Himalayan News Service

Rupandehi, May 7:

The murder of Pandit Narayan Pokharel has led to the closure of Ramapur bazaar and the postponement of the concluding ceremony of the Shreemad Bhagwat Dhanyanchal Mahayagya, which was slated for today.

The Mahayagya was being held to collect funds for the Ramapur Multiple Campus. Over 3.7 million rupees had already been collected till Thursday and the organisers had expected to collect six million rupees by today.

The murder of Pokharel, who was involved in social service, has come as a rude shock to the people of Ramapur.

“We have stopped eating and doing our daily activities due to this sudden and unexpected incident,” said Shanta Gyawali, a local. Bijaya Sharma, another local, that locals and family members of the victim were yet to come over the grief engulfing them.

The concluding ceremony has been postponed till the 13th day ritual of Pokharel is conducted.

People involved in conducting the Mahayagya have gone to Kathmandu for cremation of Pokharel.

Meanwhile, the Rupandehi district committee of the CPN-Maoist has owned up the killing. District Superintendent of Police Mayakumar Shah said that a search was on to nab the Maoists involved in the killing.

This is the first time the Maoists have killed someone with a religious background. Pokharel earned renown as a topnotch fundraiser whose recitals helped raise millions of rupees.

He was gunned down early yesterday in Butwal, where he had been taking part in a nine-day Mahayagya to raise money for the Ramapur Multiple Campus in Rupandehi.

The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) said it had no information if the Maoists were behind the murder.

However, BBC Radio’s Nepali service quoted a Maoist leader as saying Pokharel was killed by the Dalit Mukti Morcha, an underground, banned organisation affiliated to the Maoists and comprising mostly Dalits.