6 am Saturday, July 7: I got ready for the duty as I was scheduled to be in

the periphery of Narayanhiti Palace from 8 am

to 3 pm.

• 7.30 am: Since I was supposed to remain on the spot for about six hours, I had my day meal in the

office mess before I left

for the spot, where we reached the spot 25

minutes later. My senior asked me to stay at Lazimpat, on the north side

of Narayanhiti. It being Saturday, few people or vehicles were moving around.

• 10.30 am: I saw pro-king rally entering the Narayanhiti Palace. I had read in newspapers that Young Communist League and students’ unions of

political parties will try

to disturb the rally. I was quite nervous. I thought there would be a clash

between royalists and

student unions and YCL cadres.

• 11.30 am: I saw former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand and former home minister Kamal Thapa entering the palace. As per the rules, I had to salute them. Thank god, I didn’t see many dignitaries. My senior told me that two years ago he got tired just saluting the dignitaries.

• 12.30 pm: The clash I was apprehending didn’t happen. I heard on the walkie-talkie that there was tension at ASCOL. Mercifully I was not posted there. Whenever there are street protests, we are the ones to suffer. I was happy because I didn’t have to face stones or get infuriated.

• 3 pm: I was starving since I had not eaten anything. We didn’t get even water to drink. At the end of the duty colleagues from Metropolitan Police Section, Durbar Marg, brought two bottles of water. I bought a packet of chow-chow and shared it with two friends. That was it for the day.

[The name of the police constable has been withheld upon his request. Presented by Hem Dulal. ]