One injured in shooting at Mhepi

Kathmandu, October 22

In a brazen wee-hour shooting, an armed gang of four persons opened fire on a youth at Bahatepokhari in Mhepi.

According to Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, Kalyan Gurung, 28, of Gorkha and currently residing in Raniban had received a bullet injury in the right calf. He is a trekking guide and was riding a scooter when the gang opened fire on him at around 3:00am.

Officials said it was a drive-by shooting. A man travelling in a car with a woman had fired the shot. Kalyan is undergoing treatment at the TU Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, and is said to be out of danger.

SSP Rabindra Bahadur Dhanuk, MPR in-charge, informed that four persons, including the alleged shooter, were nabbed within a few hours of the incident. The suspects arrested by police from different places of Kathmandu are Asun Gurung, 36, of Nagarjun Municipality; Sabina Chhetri, 23, of Chitwan; Nawaraj Lamichhane, 35, and Surendra Shahi, 31. Asun was the shooter, he said.

The car used in shooting has also been impounded. Police said the gang had engaged in a brawl with Kalyan in the Thamel-based CNI Disco ‘over a woman’. As he stepped out of the restaurant, the gang followed him and opened fire.  SSP Dhanuk said Asun and Sabina were in the disco till 2:00am.

The illicit proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons is posing a serious threat to security in Kathmandu Valley. Officials fear smuggling and easy availability of such firearms is likely to give rise to criminal activities if timely action is not taken.

According to police, the rise in smuggling of small arms into the Valley has resulted in the surge in crimes like murder‚ extortion, abduction and robbery. Small arms are mainly smuggled into Nepal through the southern border. Officials said a pistol fetches arms smugglers up to Rs 100‚000, depending on the need of the prospective clients‚ who are mostly extortionists or members of organised criminal gangs.

(UPDATED)

Man shot in wee hours in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU: A person was injured after an unidentified group shot him at Mhepi in the Capital this morning.

Kalyan Gurung, a resident of Laprak in Gorkha district was injured when then group opened fire at him near Mhepi temple at 4:00 am.

Spokesperson at the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, Ram Dutta Joshi, said that Gurung has sustained bullet injuries to his leg.

“Police have arrested five persons including a woman suspected of involvement in the act and further investigation into the case was underway.”

The injured Gurung has been receiving treatment at the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.