KATHMANDU, JULY 13 Amid the Parliament and streets occupied by protesters demanding justice for a 25-year-old ride-share driver who succumbed to his self-immolation injuries following a parking dispute, a bizarre series of suspicious incidents unfolded today, causing panic and drawing criticism from various sectors. In what appeared to be a coordinated event, abandoned vehicles parked in a manner that obstructed the key entry points caused a psychological panic across Kathmandu and drew strong criticism from political leaders, civil society and press freedom watchdogs. The government had yesterday signed a nine-point agreement with the kin of Ganesh Nepali, who died of burn injuries on July 10 while undergoing treatment at Bir Hospital. Nepali, 25, of Jwaldhara, Soru Rural Municipality-1, Mugu district, self-immolated on July 9 at Tripureshwor after police of Kathmandu Metropolitan City locked his motorbike wheel for flouting parking rules. The news of the tragic case has made the headlines in the recent days, with lawmakers and the general public expressing outrage over the incident and some even calling for Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah to step down. Subsequently, in a wellplanned operation today morning, drivers suddenly parked private vehicles in front of the main gates of major media houses - Kantipur Media Group in Tinkune, OnlineKhabar in Buddhanagar and Himalaya Television in mid-Baneshwor - and fled the scenes. Anamnagar branch of Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket - a busy area near Hanumansthan - and the private residence of Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa in Ratopul were also blockaded simultaneously. With the transit system at a standstill and fears growing over what was inside the abandoned vehicles, traffic police mobilised quickly and dispatched heavy duty cranes to forcibly tow the cars away, clearing the thoroughfares. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) sent a visiting team to the affected media houses, which was led by FNJ President Nirmala Sharma, Senior Vice-President Deepak Acharya and Secretary Ramesh Khatiwada. After the inspection, the FNJ issued a scathing press release calling the simultaneous blockades a calculated effort by the state to control the media, sow terror in the press landscape and silence its voice. The federation expressed serious concern that while the abandoned vehicles were at the given locations from 7:00am, the state did not take the initiative to remove them until much later in the afternoon, leaving the police as mere bystanders. The FNJ statement said, 'The state's inaction and the police's role as silent spectators give rise to strong reasons to suspect that the terror has been orchestrated with the state's complicity.' It called for an immediate investigation into the physical assault against press freedom. Meanwhile, the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) issued a statement strongly condemning the activity, stating that psychological pressure on journalists is completely contrary to democratic principles. The RSP emphasised that independent journalism is the foundation of democracy and urged the Nepal government, Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant security agencies to launch an immediate, fact-based investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible. A popular Facebook page, which is claimed to be run by a long-time friend and chief advisor to Prime Minister Shah, mocked the media's reaction. The post noted, 'The same media outlets that typically complain about state overreach in terms of towing and parking fines felt compelled to issue panicked official statements within five or six hours of encountering a parking blockage themselves.' President of the Nepali Congress Thapa launched a scathing attack on PM Shah's administration, accusing it of attempting to run an autocratic regime by silencing the public. Addressing a political gathering organised by the party's Central Policy Academy, Thapa claimed that local residents saw people arrive in official government vehicles to execute the blockade outside his house before abandoning their private vehicles. 'State vehicles should not be parked in the houses of party leaders, media offices and commercial business zones to disturb private property and hardearned livelihoods.' He added that the executive is totally careworn and detached from human compassion. Similarly, the escalating tension prompted the House of Representatives' Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee to take immediate action. During a meeting at Singha Durbar today, Committee Chairperson Samikshya Baskota officially drew the government's attention to the highly suspicious incidents. Chairperson Baskota flatly denied allegations of direct state involvement in causing the chaos, pointing out that the registration plates indicated the vehicles belonged to private owners rather than municipal or government fleets. She informed the committee that traffic police was successfully mobilised to tow all obstructing vehicles while the legislative meeting was in progress. Baskota said that any form of intimidation of the press was unacceptable and demanded a thorough investigation into the motives behind the coordinated blockades. She promised that the parliamentary committee would continue to hold formal discussions to ensure that such psychological intimidation is not repeated. Preliminary findings While speculative fingers have been pointed at cadres close to the ruling coalition, investigative agencies have begun a stringent process of tracking ownership of the vehicles. The Department of Transport Management has identified some of the abandoned vehicles in preliminary findings.

• A car with registration number Ba 12 Cha 8545, left at OnlineKhabar, is registered under the name of Sunil Paudel of Kathmandu.
• A jeep with registration number Bagmati Pradesh-01-034 Cha 8480, abandoned at Kantipur Publications, is registered under Sanima Bank and operated by ST Motors in a hire-purchase agreement.
• A car with registration number Ba 10 Cha 1255, found outside Himalaya Television, is registered under DR Automotives in Dhumbarahi.
• A Hyundai Creta with registration number 033 Cha 4275, left outside the Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket in Anamnagar, remains under investigation as ownership has not yet been established.