Account given of Nepal regicide

Associated Press

KATMANDU, Nepal — The royal slaughter in Nepal started with the killing of the king, shot by his angry, drunken son, Crown Prince Dipendra, the prince’s uncle said Wednesday. The prince’s brother pleaded in vain for their mother’s life, saying: "Don’t do it, please. Kill me if you want."

After shooting his father, Dipendra sprayed a roomful of guests with fire from his assault rifle, his uncle said. In the end, the bloodied ornate halls and garden of the palace were strewn with the bodies of his parents, his brother and his sister and five others. Then Dipendra killed himself.

There has still been no official explanation of Friday night’s massacre. But with many Nepalese angry and convinced the truth won’t be told, several royals stepped forward Wednesday and gave accounts.

After several days of rioting, Nepal’s capital was quiet Wednesday, as hundreds lined up at the palace and at impromptu shrines to pay tribute to slain King Birendra, who was revered by many Nepalese.

His unpopular successor and brother, King Gyanendra, has ordered an investigation into the slayings, due to begin today and be finished by Saturday. It has been delayed by squabbles and undermined by the refusal of the opposition communist party to participate.

In a sign of the deep unease in the small mountain kingdom, police on Wednesday arrested the editor and publishers of Nepal’s largest daily newspaper, Kantipur, on suspicion of treason. The paper had published an article by a Maoist rebel leader.

Suraj Shamsher Rana, brother of the slain Queen Aishwarya, said the crown prince went on his killing spree after his father, Birendra, threw him out of a gathering of about two dozen members of the royal family and wealthy friends at Narayanhiti Palace.

Rana, who was not present at the gathering, said he spoke to several witnesses and survivors. Another of his sisters — the new queen, Komal — was wounded, and he has visited her several times in the hospital.

His account was confirmed in an interview on independent Star TV by Neer Shah, whose brother was married to Princess Shruti, Dipendra’s sister. Shah’s brother was wounded.

According to these accounts, the king, queen, crown prince and Prince Nirajan were mingling with guests in the billiards room before dinner. The 29-year-old Dipendra made drinks for some guests at the bar.

Some palace sources said that the crown prince and his mother had sharp words that night over the young woman that Dipendra wanted to marry — Devyani Rana, the daughter of a prominent Nepali businessman and the granddaughter of an Indian maharaja.

Witnesses said the king and queen told Dipendra he could marry Devyani Rana but if he did so Nirajan would take his place as crown prince, according to a member of the State Council, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dipendra, who was drunk, was escorted up to his room by two cousins, according to the accounts. The king, furious at his son’s behavior in front of guests, went into an adjoining room with the queen, the queen’s brother said.

A half-hour later, Dipendra reappeared on the stairs, dressed in army fatigues and brandishing an Israeli-made assault rifle. Without a word, he strode past the stunned guests to the door of the adjacent room.

Leaving behind a room splattered with bodies, Dipendra returned to the garden and, standing about 20 feet away from the bodies of his mother and brother, shot himself in the head.