Nepal’s ex-police chief ordered lethal force in protest: BBC
The Straits Times
At least 77 people were killed in the September 2025 anti-corruption protests. Read more at straitstimes.com.
KATHMANDU – Nepal’s former police chief ordered the use of lethal force during the September 2025 anti-corruption protests, a BBC investigation revealed.
At least 77 people were killed in the Sept 8 to 9 protests, the deadliest unrest since the end of the 2006 civil war, which ultimately forced the government to collapse. No one has been held accountable for the deaths as yet.
The report, which aired on Feb 26, comes ahead of the March 5 elections, in which major parties from the coalition government toppled by the uprising are seeking to return to power.
Nepal’s police did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment on Feb 27.
The BBC reported that police said they had been “faced with an overwhelming situation where we had to respond to multiple incidents simultaneously”.
The violence is subject to an ongoing public inquiry, in which the ex-police chief Chandra Kuber Khapung has submitted a closed statement, but the BBC’s findings represent one of the most comprehensive public examinations of the events so far.
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