Kathmandu, June 10: The last rites of Police Inspector Nabaraj Poudel and Constable Jhulanath Acharya – killed in an encounter with the Maoist rebels at Jajarkot’s Panchkatia police post Wednesday night – were performed at Aryaghat this afternoon with full police honour. The bodies were covered with the flags of Nepal Police.
Residents of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts respectively, Poudel and Acharya’s bodies had been airlifted to Nepalgunj Friday.
The bodies were brought to Kathmandu today and placed at Mahendra Police Club to pay the last tributes before they were cremated, a news release from the police headquarters said.
Deputy Speaker Chitralekha Yadav, Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi, Home Secretary Padam Prasad Pokhrel, Inspector General of Police Achyut Krishna Kharel and high ranking police officials paid their last tributes to late Poudel and Acharya at the Police Club.
The relatives and well-wishers of Poudel and Acharya as well as former Home Minister Yog Prasad Upadhyaya, former Industry Minister Omkar Prasad Shrestha, Nepali Congress Central Working Committee member Basu Risal and other senior and junior police personnel also paid their last tributes.
Members of Friends’ Club, Kopundole covered Poudel’s body with the Club flag. Poudel was one of the founding members of the Club.
The funeral procession went along Putalisadak, Kamalpokhari, Gyaneshwor, Ratopul, Gaushala and reached Aryaghat.
Before the cremation, a contingent of the Nepal Police paid Salute of Honour to the two fallen policemen.
The funeral pyre of late Poudel was lit by his wife Ila Sharma while the pyre of Acharya was lit by his 10-year-old son Rajesh Acharya.
Poudel had joined the police force in 2041 B. S. as Assistant Sub Inspector of Police and was honoured with four different medals. Late Poudel had completed four professional trainings. He was a member of the election monitoring team to oversee elections being held in Cambodia under the aegis of the United Nations.
Similarly, Acharya had entered the police force in 2044 B. S. as a jawan. He had been promoted to the post of Constable in 2056 B.S.
Other policemen who lost their lives during the Wednesday night encounter with the Maoists include Assistant Sub Inspector Hari Bahadur Shahi, Constables Gopi Chandra Khadka, Tek Bahadur Thapa and Rana Bahadur Adhikari and jawans Birendra Bahadur Rokaya, Madan Chand, Nara Bahadur Balayar, Prem Singh Bhandari, Karna Bahadur Bam and Dipendra Bhatta.
According to police, the bodies of the 10 police personnel had been dispatched to their home districts.
Eight of the 11 policemen who sustained injuries during the encounter have been flown to Kathmandu today for treatment.
The encounter also cost the lives of seven locals including four children under 10 and a woman. The deceased have been identified as Chhabilal Oli, 38, his daughter Draupadi and sons Jit Bahadur and Dal Bahadur. Thirty-five-year-old Dhanrupa Singh, her son Kamal and daughter Mira are others who lost their lives.
Meanwhile, IGP Kharel has extended condolence to the bereaved family and wished quick recovery of the injured.
Two Maoist rebels were killed during the encounter. The police recovered one rifle and 35 rounds of bullets. The police also found a socket bomb from the encounter site.