Bank manager shot dead in Rajbiraj

Gang loots Rs 3 million Bikram Shah was to deposit in Rastriya Banijya Bank

Rajbiraj, January 22:

No sooner had minister of state for home affairs Ram Kumar Chaudhary left his hometown Rajbiraj than an armed group gunned down Rajbiraj-based Agriculture Development Bank’s manager Bikram Shah at 11:07 am today.

Shah was gunned down as he was heading to Rastriya Banijya Bank to deposit Rs 3 million, police said. Eyewitnesses said that a group of four who came in three motorbikes took the amount as he lay on the floor after being shot on the temple. There had been serial bomb blasts after the minister of state for home affairs, Ram Kumar Chaudhary, came to Rajbiraj from where he had gone to Biratnagar at 10:45 am. Shah died as soon as he was taken to hospital, said Sagarmatha zonal hospital at Rajbiraj.

The group had asked Shah to hand over the amount, brandishing pistol. Shah refused to give the cash and the group gunned down and escaped taking the cash, said an eyewitness. After the incident, all branch offices of the Agriculture Development Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Nepal Bank have discontinued their services. A resident of Bhatihan in Dhanusa district, Shah’s body has been kept at the Sagarmatha zonal hospital for post-mortem.

Shah’s wife Parbati who had reached the hospital, has become unconscious. Shah is survived by two daughters and two sons. Most of the shops remained closed after Shah’s murder. Nobody has taken the responsibility for Shah’s murder. DSP Bharat Pradhan said nobody has been identified yet and security personnel have been deployed to search for Shah’s murderers.

After the incident, all bank staffers protested against Shah’s murder, demanding to declare Shah a martyr and arrest of the culprits.