Hired criminals did it, say rights activists

Kathmandu, March 22:

Rights activists and civil society members, who visited Gaur today, said people were killed in cold blood in Gaur by criminals hired from outside.

Dr Mathura Shrestha, a rights activist and member of the civil society, termed the killings “inhumane and unimaginable.”

He claimed that the killers were trained professionals hired from outside.

“The heads of the dead were found to have been smashed by bamboo batons,” he told the press. He said six of the 28 dead were the Tarai people while the rest were the hill people.

Dr Gauri Shankar Lal, another member of the team, said the 28 people were killed in cold blood.

“Locals found that women were first raped and their breasts hacked off during the killing spree.”

According to Subodh Pokharel, over 12 people were chased six kilometres from the incident site and slain.

“The slayers dragged the people out from where they were hiding and killed them brutally,” he said.

He also said the number of the dead may rise. “Some of the bodies are reportedly thrown inside conduits,” he said.

He said an injured was beaten up on the premises of a hospital when he disclosed that he held from Makwanpur. “We were told the slayers tried to burn 10 bodies on the road. Police recovered the bodies,” he said.

He also informed that two YCL members were found carrying pistols with them, but it has not yet been established who opened fire first.

Dr Arjun Karki said the incident could have been averted if the local administration had been attentive. “The locals knew the incident was going to happen but the administration paid no heed to it.”

According to him, the SSP tried to contact the chief district officer after the clash, but the latter was unavailable.