Police opened fire on a peaceful protest organized by the ‘Gen-G’ group on 23 Bhadra, killing 19 youth and students in Baneshwor and Sunsari, and injuring many others. The protests and demonstrations led by Gen-G, demanding an end to widespread corruption and misrule in the country and the reopening of social media that had been shut down by the government, were met with widespread opposition after they were brutally suppressed. Then, on 24 Bhadra, protests against ‘state oppression’ spread across the country turned violent, causing unimaginable loss of life and property.

At least 75 people have lost their lives across the country in the incidents of 23 and 24 Bhadra, including Genji, who took to the streets to protest. Some of those who lost their lives were killed during the street protests and some while escaping from prison by vandalizing and setting fire to them. The human skeletons of some were found inside the burned commercial buildings/shopping complexes. Such unimaginable human loss shocked everyone.

Not only this, the anger of 24 Bhadra, created by the repression of 23 Bhadra, also caused destruction to government/public and private buildings/structures and national property. The President's House, Sheetal Niwas, the Parliament House in Baneshwor, the Supreme Court, the country's main administrative center, Singha Durbar, and the Prime Minister's House were also destroyed under the guise of protests. More than 255 police offices/barracks were burned/vandalized across the country. One of the national assets damaged by arson and vandalism is the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority in Tangal and its provincial offices.

...Then the authority was targeted

After 19 youth and students were killed by police bullets in the previous day (23 Bhadra) due to police repression, protests and demonstrations had started since the morning of 24 Bhadra. People of all age groups had come out to protest from all sides of the streets and squares. The targets of the protests were government/public structures and buildings and houses of political parties and leaders. Around 12 noon on 24 Bhadra, a group of about 20/25 people went down the slope from Vishalnagar Chowk towards Bhatbhateni Chowk. As soon as they headed south from Vishalnagar Chowk, there was the Railway Department under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure.

The group pelted stones at the department. The mob started vandalizing the physical structures of the department while shouting slogans against the government. After some time, the group headed towards Bhatbhateni from there. Before reaching Bhatbhateni Chowk from Dhalku Chowk, there is Bhatbhateni Supermarket. The mob headed towards that commercial building. Stones and bricks started raining down. After some time, the angry mob headed north towards the Chinese Embassy via the road leading to Baluwatar. But a short distance from the Bhatbhateni Temple, a team of police and armed forces was on the road.

The government had designated a prohibited area for protests/demonstrations along the Bhatbhateni-Baluwatar road. Security personnel were stationed at the point from which the prohibited area was designated. The same security team did not allow the mob to move forward. The group that returned then started vandalizing Bhatbhateni again. At the same time, the group that returned after setting fire to the Hilton Hotel in Naxal also gathered in Bhatbhateni. The group that returned after pelting stones at the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar also joined in. In this way, the groups that came from four places concentrated at Bhatbhateni Chowk. Then, the looting and arson began after entering Bhatbhateni. According to an eyewitness to the incident, the looting and arson in Bhatbhateni began after 1 pm on Bhadabho 24. While the looting was starting in Bhatbhateni, a group headed towards the connected CIAA office.

The employees at the CIAA office were also panicked when the vandalism started in Bhatbhateni. Keeping in mind the possible protests against the police repression the previous day, the Prime Minister's Office had issued a circular 'not to drive government vehicles in public places'. On that basis, most of the CIAA employees had arranged their own vehicles and left the government vehicles at the office. The next day, most of the employees reached the office around 8 am. Apart from the employees, the Nepal Police has an Investigation Division within the CIAA. A team of a special task force is also deployed in the same premises for CIAA security. The employees and security personnel who were busy writing the annual report for the fiscal year 2081/82 were at the CIAA office on 24 Bhadra. The employees had reached the office before 9 am. The police had been continuously informing the CIAA administration about the possible situation since morning. After the vandalism and arson started on the road/square outside, the police had already taken some of the CIAA officials to a safe place. Between 1 pm and 4 pm, all the employees in the CIAA building moved to a safe place. The private residences of some employees working in the CIAA had also been targeted by the protesters. While this incident was going on, despite the police's best efforts to prevent the protesters from entering the CIAA, the increasingly violent crowd entered the office after 4 pm and wreaked havoc. The crowd trying to enter the CIAA was small at first. The crowd coming from Bishalnagar had repeatedly tried to enter. Later, the group that returned after setting fire to Sheetal Niwas had arrived outside the CIAA. After the crowd from other places also joined in, the protesters forced their way into the CIAA office through the main gate.

By this time, the CIAA employees had already left. Security personnel were stationed inside in plain clothes. When the group that had set fire to Bhatbhateni started vandalizing and pelting stones at the gate outside the CIAA, the security personnel stationed there initially prevented a riot from taking place.

A security guard who was inside the authority premises that day says, ‘Since 1 pm, the crowd that had come from outside the authority had been trying to enter. We had closed the main gate and were on guard inside and outside. We kept the authority safe by constantly reminding the crowd outside for about 3 hours. Some of the crowd would obey our request and return. Another team would come again, reminding them in the same way. But when the group that had come from all over gathered in one place, we were not affected. After 4 pm, they entered and started arson, looting and vandalism.’ Initially, vehicles outside were set on fire. Then, they entered and looted.

The group that entered the authority at around 4 pm on Bhadra 24 initially focused on looting. According to the CCTV footage that was not damaged that day, it appears that laptops, computers and other equipment and devices were looted. The group that entered the CIAA continued to loot and vandalize for about 3 hours. Fortunately, the investigation files were not damaged in the CIAA that day. Although the rooms where the administration division and the forensic lab were burned down, the files related to the investigation were found safe. ‘They entered the rooms and stole computers and laptops, and they also took food and drinking water kept by the employees and used them. They entered the rooms and looted them until about 6:45 pm,’ says an employee of the CIAA.

After setting fire to the CIAA, the protesters took a vehicle (a vehicle transporting the agency’s employees) that was still burning and took it to the outside of the Dillibazaar prison. An employee said that the vehicle was taken to escape prisoners from the prison, but after the security personnel failed to prevent the prisoner from escaping, the CIAA vehicle was found abandoned on the side of the road the next day. 'It is clear that a plan was hatched to take the CIAA vehicle and escape the prisoners. This plan was not prepared suddenly, but a group that came in a pre-planned and planned manner burned down the CIAA,' said an eyewitness of that day.

The CIAA, which had been protected from vandalism and arson since morning, was out of the control of the security personnel after 4 pm. According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Poudel, 20 computers have been broken into. 10 printers, 6 laptops, and 10 computers have been looted. 10 electronic devices have been partially damaged and 13 have been completely damaged. 21 buildings, including the central office, have been partially damaged and one building has been completely damaged.

16 four-wheelers, 57 two-wheelers in the Tangal office premises have been completely damaged, and 16 four-wheelers and one two-wheeler have been partially damaged. 4 vehicles and 6 motorcycles in the Itahari office of the CIAA have been completely damaged, and one vehicle and 2 motorcycles have been partially damaged. 4 vehicles and 8 motorcycles in Hetauda, ​​2 vehicles and 6 motorcycles in Pokhara have been damaged. 3 vehicles in the Butwal office of the CIAA have been burned. 1 vehicle and 2 motorcycles in Butwal have been vandalized. 4 motorcycles have been vandalized in the Kanchanpur office.