Nepali Congress leader found dead in Dillibazaar

KATHMANDU:  Nepali Congress leader and former Assistant Minister Ram Hari Dhungel was found dead on his bed at his residence in Dillibazaar of Kathmandu on Thursday.

A permanent resident of Ramechhap in eastern Nepal, he was 60.

He was found dead at his rented room this morning, according to Pradeep Paudel, the NC Central Working Committee member.

The door of his bedroom was closed until late this morning, so his nephew forced himself inside the room to find him lying dead on the bed.

Dhungel was reportedly suffering from high blood pressure and gastritis. It has been learned that he had recently visited a doctor also.

He was unmarried and known for spartan life.

He was Nepali Congress Mahasamiti member and former Ramechhap district president. He was elected to the Parliament from Ramechhap Constituency No. 2 in 1999 and subsequently served as Assistant Minister for Agriculture in the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Cabinet.

After postmortem examinations which are expected to be done today itself, his body will be kept at the party's central office and taken to the Pashupati Aryaghat for cremation.

Leaders and sympathisers will gather at Sanepa to pay their tributes to Dhungel after 2 pm, according to the NC Central Office Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel.

Deuba saddened

Meanwhile, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba said he was sad to learn Dhungel's death.

"His demise in this phase of Constitution implementation incurred an irreparable loss to the Nepali Congress," Deuba has been quoted in a statement issued by Paudel.

"I express profound sadness over his death."