KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 5
Kathmandu District Administration Office today released security guard Sherjung Gurung, who was arrested on Friday for asking Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha to wait for his turn in queue like everyone else at a private office.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a press release today saying that Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand asked Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Govinda Prasad Rijal to release Gurung following all due official procedures.
"Police had sought judicial remand for Gurung, but we decided to release him after going through all the evidences," Rijal told THT.
Read also: Guard arrested for doing his duty
Gurung was accused of indecent behaviour. Chief district officers are authorised to deal with such offences that can lead to a jail sentence of one year or less or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both.
The incident occurred on Friday when Shrestha reached the office of VFS Global Nepal in Thamel with his wife to provide biometrics for Canada visa. But, since there was a queue at the office, the minister and his security guard asked Gurung to let him jump the queue. However, Gurung asked the minister and his wife to wait for their turn. This led to a heated exchange of words between the minister and Gurung.
Garud Securities that employs Gurung claimed that Gurung was professional in his conduct and alleged that it was the minister who lost his cool and behaved irrationally.
After that incident, the guard was arrested by the Durbar Marg police on direct orders from the police headquarters. A letter was sent by the home ministry to the police headquarters demanding action against Gurung.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 6, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
