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Josy Joseph in Kathmandu
A rare gift that King Birendra gave his son wiped out almost all of Nepal's royal family on Friday, investigators believe.
Reliable sources in the Himalayan kingdom's government said it was an Uzi submachine-gun that the king had gifted Crown Prince Dipendra that was used to kill 12 members of the royal family.
Investigators and intelligence agencies are piecing together the sequence of events that culminated in the gruesome and mindless murder of the king, Queen Aishwarya and their children Prince Niranjan and Princess Shruti, among others.
King Birendra had gifted Uzi submachine-guns to both Dipendra and Niranjan some time back, the sources said. And it was one of those that turned out to be the murder weapon.
According to a reliable account of the events of Friday night put together by investigators, the murders were an angry reaction on the spur of the moment from the crown prince, who has since been crowned king though he is in a coma and believed to be dead.
Traditionally, the extended royal family got together for dinner at the palace on the first Friday of every month. The king's immediate family always had dinner together every Friday, an official said.
On June 1, the dinner was attended by King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, their sons, Crown Prince Dipendra and Prince Niranjan, daughter Princess Shruti and son-in-law Gorakh Shumsher Rana.
Among others present was the king's youngest brother Prince Dhirendra, who had been removed from the royalty but had recently found his way back. Also present was Prince Paras, son of Prince Gyanendra, the late king's brother who has now been appointed regent.
Prince Paras is infamous in the kingdom for his recklessness, and is accused of at least three murders, including the crushing to death of a Nepalese singer under the wheels of his vehicle. Under the country's constitution, however, the royal family enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution.
As the royal family sat down to dinner on Friday night, the issue of Prince Dipendra's alleged affair with Devyani Rana came up.
The matter was not new. The royal family had witnessed much tension between the royal couple and the crown prince on the subject. Dipendra and Devyani had been spotted dancing together at some of Kathmandu's discos in the past. But the king and the queen opposed his plan to marry her for two reasons: One, astrologers had advised against his marriage before the age of 35. Second, the queen felt Devyani was not suited for the prince.
Six months back, after a heated argument with the king, Crown Prince Dipendra had disappeared, and was traced to an army camp near the Tibetan border almost a week later. "That was the last time we heard anything in public about the dispute over his desire to marry Devyani," said the official quoted earlier.
On Friday, however, the debate resumed at the dinner table as the king was relaxing with a glass of cognac. Birendra was known to enjoy his drinks, but never overindulged, especially after he suffered a heart attack some time back.
Dipendra, under pressure for a long time, was drunk. In recent times the restless prince had complained a couple of times to people outside the palace about having nothing worthwhile to do. He was 30, unable to marry the girl he loved, and had nothing productive to do except inaugurating some exhibition or playing the superficial role of crown prince.
As the arguments progressed in front of the entire royal clan, the king put his foot down. An angry Birendra told his son that he could marry Devyani if that was what he wanted, but he would have to give up his status in the royal family.
After some hot words, Dipendra was taken to his bedroom and laid in bed by his younger brother Niranjan and Prince Paras.
Paras then left for his home in Maharajganj, believe investigators. Minutes later, however, Dipendra returned to the dining room, high on alcohol and probably drugs and carrying his father's gift, the Uzi.
Investigators are yet to confirm what and how much the prince had consumed. But he was in a fury, outraged by his parents' apparent lack of concern for his emotions and their stoic threat to strip him of his status as crown prince.
Losing all control, Dipendra opened fire on his family, spraying bullets on all those assembled in the dining room. Thereafter, he put a pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger.
Investigators discounted claims by a section of the media that the prince had a bullet in his back. "He fired into his temple. There is an exit wound on the back of his head," an official said.
A medical bulletin on Sunday evening continued to state that King Dipendra was in a 'critical' state. But officials said he was dead and had been kept alive on a ventilator. "He will be declared dead later," they said.
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