It is seen in the data of the police that excessive force was used to suppress the Jen-G movement two weeks ago. According to the preliminary report prepared by the police, there were 13,182 firings across the country in two days.

Most of the metal bullets were fired from INSAS, SLRs and pistols. Even in the post-mortem report of the deceased conducted at the Trivi Teaching Hospital, Maharajganj, it is mentioned that the cause of death was a bullet fired from a 'high velocity arms'. 

There is an internal report of the police that 2,642 'live ammunition' (metal bullets) were fired in two days. At the same time, 1 thousand 884 rubber bullets were fired. Similarly, 2 thousand 377 aerial fire and 6 thousand 279 cells of tear gas were fired. 

It is mentioned in the preliminary report of the police that most of the firing was done in Kathmandu Valley. 1 thousand 329 live bullets were fired in Kathmandu. Similarly, 1,420 rubber bullets and 1,046 aerial shots were fired in the police report. 3 thousand 96 cells of tear gas were fired. 6 thousand 891 times were fired in Kathmandu Valley alone.  After the

valley, more force was used in Madhesh province. There were 1,921 firings in Madhesh, 1,568 in Koshi, 932 in Karnali, 763 in Far West, 619 in Lumbini, 366 in Gandaki and 181 times in other districts of Bagmati province. "This is only the preliminary information prepared by the police, the number may increase," said an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Nepal Police spokesperson Vinod Ghimire says that the investigation is still underway on how many shots were fired and how many were looted. "A committee led by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Deepak Regmi of the Police Headquarters is working on this," he said.

Protesters have vandalized and set fire to the Valley Police Office, Ranipokhari, so the details of weapons and bullets have been destroyed, officials say. "Therefore, an investigation has been started by comparing the data with the police headquarters," said a member of the committee.

Serious error in information collection 

The incumbent officers of the Nepal Police review the weaknesses in the collection and analysis of advance notices of the Gen-G movement. According to a police officer, it was estimated that only 4-5 thousand protesters would come to the streets on 23 August.

"The police had two options to control the crowd on that day - to put them under psychological pressure by showing a large force or to show that it is a normal situation by showing a low presence," said a senior officer of the Nepal Police. But experts say that the police made a mistake in adopting the same strategy. "Declaring a prohibited area means not to enter there, the police should stop the protestors before they reach the Parliament building," says former Additional Inspector General (AIG) Uttamraj Subedi, "There are many methods that should be completed before reaching the situation of shooting, if they were used, this situation would not have happened." 

When talking to the officers of various units deployed in the field including the Police Headquarters, Valley Police Office, it seems that the police underestimated the Gen-G movement from the beginning. To some extent, even the barricade was initially placed only in the middle of the road. 

"At first there was only a barricade in the middle, but later the protesters came from the side lanes on both sides," said a police officer stationed in the field, "slowly people started gathering from all over Shankhamool, Old Baneshwar, Tinkune, the situation became uncontrollable." 

The country has a National Investigation Department (NDI) for internal espionage, which is also expected to be responsible for external espionage. But some officials say that even Raavi could not bring correct information. "There was a weakness in the preparation because there was no concrete information about the level of presence, how the plan is being made," a security officer analyzed, "The Nepali Army also has an intelligence agency, the General Directorate of Military Intelligence (GGMI), and the armed police also has a separate mechanism. However, no one brought this level of information.' 

Officials of Raavi complained that the government did not take them seriously even though they brought the information. "How the receiver uses it also determines the effectiveness of the information," claimed an officer of the RAA, "This year too, the same problem has occurred." 

death toll 75 

Jen-G held a street demonstration on August 23 against the ban on social media and corruption. Organized by Discord and Reddit, the youth gathered at the funeral home and proceeded. They broke down the barricade at 12:35 pm and escaped. After hanging a banner with the words 'Wake Up Nepal' on the sky bridge of Baneshwar, the police started firing after the parliament building was surrounded. 

Former AIG Subedi says that the STF (Special Task Force) of the police stationed inside the parliament building opened fire. But according to police sources, other police teams were also kept inside the parliament building on that day, and after the protesters broke the barricade, the rest of the police who were outside also entered inside. After that, shots were fired from SLR, INSAS, pistols and other deadly weapons from inside the Parliament building. 

On the first day, 19 people were killed by excessive police repression, and the anger escalated, and on August 24, more protesters took to the streets. Central Police Spokesperson Ghimire informed that the death toll has reached 75 in the incidents of both days. "5 child prisoners died in Nepalgunj child reform home, 2 in Dhading and 3 in Ramechhap," he said. "20 people died in Bhatbhateni supermarket." Most of the others who died were shot by the police.

Mohana Ansari, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission, said that the bullets used in the Gen-G movement were excessive. "Firstly, the international principle of crowd control says to use non-lethal weapons. Second, the way the police shot the protestors in the head is more serious," she said. "Even during the Madhesh movement, shots were fired, but now the number of shots fired is the highest so far," she adds.

The Local Administration Act, 2028 envisages that security personnel may fire only as a last resort in situations where peace cannot be maintained. But even for that, the crowd should be warned in advance so that they understand that if they don't move, they will be shot. It is said that even after giving a warning, the crowd can be ordered to shoot in such a way that it falls below its knees. But in the post-mortem report done by the forensic department of the Tertiary Teaching Hospital, it is clearly mentioned that most of them were shot above the waist. 

On 23 August, the administration issued a curfew order at 12:30 to bring the situation under control. After that, the then chief district officer of Kathmandu, Chabi Rizal, ordered to use force if public property was vandalized. According to that, the then head of Kathmandu Police, SSP Vishwa Adhikari, mobilized the police. The commander in the field was DSP Sundar Tiwari. 

The use of force by the police during the demonstration led by Navraj Subedi and Durga Prasain on 15 Chait was criticized, even then Tiwari was the operation commander. Now both Adhikari and Tiwari have been transferred from Kathmandu Police. On 23 August, DIG Om Rana took over the command of the Valley Police as Acting Chief. On August 24, AIG Dan Bahadur Karki had already taken over the responsibility of Kathmandu Valley Police Chief. 

Senior advocate Satishkrishna Kharel, an expert in criminal law, comments that shooting in the head during the Gen-G movement is completely unprofessional of the police. "I think that it was done to provoke the situation," he says, "otherwise, why did the police use excessive force after leaving the various methods to be done before that?" The commission headed by ex-judge Gauri Bahadur Karki will find out this matter.' 

By the evening of 23 August, 21 people had died in Kathmandu and 2 in Koshi province. An emergency meeting of the National Security Council was held after a similar number of protesters were killed by police firing on the same day. At that time, the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli also questioned the heads of the security agencies saying that so many bullets had never been fired in the past.