Nepal Probes Killings, Leaks

Two investigations began Friday in Nepal's royal massacre case: the official probe into who killed the king, queen and their relatives, and a military inquiry against an eyewitness who went public without permission.

Public discontent was evident, with some angry, bewildered Nepalese staging demonstrations one week after the murders of King Birendra, Queen Aiswarya and most of the royal family.

The eyewitness, a military doctor who survived the shooting spree, said Crown Prince Dipendra carried out the massacre and then fatally shot himself, but investigators said they will have to weigh all evidence before identifying a killer.

They began the three-day investigation into the slayings by looking at fingerprints and spent bullets from the scene of the shooting.

The investigators — the chief justice of Nepal's Supreme Court and the Parliament speaker — drove to the royal palace on the first day of their probe, senior officials said. Details of the investigation inside the highly secretive palace were not known.

Many Nepalese are unable to accept that Dipendra would kill his parents. Some have speculated that Gyanendra, who was not at the party, and his son Paras, a survivor of the massacre, were somehow involved because they had the most to gain.

"The present king was out of Katmandu that day. Why wasn't he there? He was one of the senior-most people in the royal family," said Padmaratna Tuladhar, a human rights activist.

A communist leader told 4,000 people at a rally in the suburbs of Katmandu that Dipendra was not responsible for the killings and that a "huge conspiracy" was behind the massacre.

"We don't know who it is, but it is against the monarchy and the sovereignty of the nation," said Lilamami Pokharel, head of the United People's Front. He holds his party's only seat in Parliament.

Two officials — one from the military, the other from the palace — said the military was launching an inquiry against army physician, Capt. Rajiv Raj Shahi, who spoke to reporters Thursday and called Dipendra a "murderer."

They said Shahi, the son-in-law of shooting victim Prince Dhirendra, had no authorization to step forward.

AP

Dr. Rajiv Raj Shahi tells his tale

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say if Shahi was in custody. There was no official confirmation of an inquiry against him.

In his account of the assacre, Shahi said Dipendra appeared drunk at a family party and was escorted to his room. At about 9 p.m., the shooting began.

"There was shouting and I heard someone say, 'His Majesty has been shot,'" Shahi recounted.

Shahi said that the killings were carried out within a span of one-and-a-half minutes, as Dipendra — who had earlier changed into battle fatigues — darted in and out of the large hall where the party was being held, killing a few relatives each time.

"My father-in-law (Prince Dhirendra) tried to stop the then-Crown Prince. He was shot at point-blank range on his chest," Shahi. Dhirendra died in the hospital Monday night.

Prince Nirajan, Dipendra's brother, tried to save his mother the queen, but was shot in the back, said Shahi. Dipendra then shot the queen.

After the shooting, Shahi said others told him that, Dipendra stood on a footbridge, over a stream, some distance away from where the queen and Nirajan lay dead. This is where the prince shot himself in the head with a pistol.

The motive for the killings remains a mystery.

Several people have said privately that Dipendra had quarreled with his mother over his choice of a bride because the queen disapproved of the young woman.

In central Katmandu, meanwhile, about 200 people protested peacefully against the arrests of the editor and two publishers of Nepal's largest newspaper, the Kantipur Daily.

It was the first time mainstream journalists have been targeted since the monarchy lost power in 1990 and a constitutional democracy was established.

The three were detained on suspicion of treason Wednesday for publishing an article by a Maoist rebel leader, who urged the military to rebel against the monarchy.

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