KHOTANG, OCTOBER 25

Kisan Rai, the chair of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Hong Kong chapter, died after falling off a cliff in Khotang last evening.

The 53-year-old journalist was the publisher and editor of Hong Kong-based Nepali newspaper the 'Everest Weekly'.

Originally from Okhaldhunga, Rai was a permanent resident of Dharan sub-metropolis and had been practising journalism from Hong Kong for the past two decades.

He fell off the cliff at around 5:30pm near Pankhukhola at Dorpa of Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality when he was on the way to Bhojpur from Khotang.

District Police Office Information Officer Inspector Sagar Sah said, it was learnt that journalist Rai arrived here on tour with a former Armed Police Force officer of Nagarjun Municipality, Kathmandu. He fell 200 metres when he got off a vehicle near Pangkhu Stream. He was in search of a place to answer nature's call.

He died on the spot, according to police.

Three persons, including the former APF officer, and a driver are in the District Police Office for investigation into the case. They had used a private vehicle to travel.

Rai was the former general secretary of Non-Resident Nepalis Association Hong Kong, incumbent chair of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, Hong Kong, and former chair and incumbent adviser of the Kirant Rai Yayokhkha, Hong Kong.

His body has been kept at the District Hospital, Diktel, for post-mortem and police are waiting for the arrival of his relatives from Hong Kong to perform an autopsy.

He is survived by his mother, spouse, and two sons.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 26, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.