”I gave the order to fire rubber bullets below the knee, not directly.”
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It has been revealed that Chhabilal Rijal, who was the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu during the Gen-G movement, informed the Commission of Inquiry about the details of the discussions held at the Central Security Committee meeting on security preparations.
His statement included in the Commission's report states that Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandrakunber Khapung had sought instructions saying, "If a situation arises where force is needed, the line of action should be clear on what to do." In response, he stated that the situation was brought under control by using minimum force in a sequential manner according to the principle of use of force. He said, "But even after that, if the situation did not come under control and there were disorderly activities such as violation of prohibited areas, rioting, vandalism and arson, the instructions were received to use necessary force carefully and control the situation."
He said that he had set up the District Security Committee command center since 7 pm on 23 Bhadra and had been monitoring the situation with the office bearers. He said that he informed the Home Secretary after the protesters broke the barricade and moved forward. ‘He gave instructions to control the situation by using minimum force,’ he said.
He then said that when he saw the protesters moving towards the Parliament building and causing a disturbance, he called the Home Minister, Chief Secretary and Home Secretary and informed them that a curfew had to be imposed. He said that a curfew order was then issued.
He claimed that although he had given a verbal order to fire rubber bullets below the knees, he did not give the final order to fire directly.
However, in the same tense situation, he said that he heard the police radio set first of the Inspector General of Police and then the acting chief of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office giving the order to open fire as needed to control the situation.
