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Nepal's probe panel given
four-day extension

Nepal's King Gyanendra on Sunday gave four more days to the high-level panel probing the June one royal massacre after it failed to meet the deadline to complete its task even as youths marched through the streets demanding a fair investigation into who killed King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and seven other royal family-members.

"His Majesty has extended the time for submission of report by four days following a petition from the Inquiry Committee," the palace's press secretary Mohan Bahadur Pandey said.

The two-member committee headed by Chief Justice Keshab Prasad Upadhyay, set up by the King in the wake of widespread protests demanding an impartial probe, was to submit its report on Sunday evening.

Seeking extension of time, the panel, which also includes Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament Taranath Ranabhat, submitted that while all inquiries by them have been conducted, they were yet to receive the report of the experts, including laboratory tests, he said.

While the investigators remained closeted in their office for most of the day on Sunday, they had visited the site of shooting at the Narayanhity palace on Thursday and the Birendra Military Hospital on Saturday and interviewed survivors, including injured royals who were being treated there.

The inquiry panel, announced by the King on Monday, could begin its work only on Friday as one of the members and Leader of the Opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned citing constitutional procedures.

EARLIER REPORT
Probe panel may seek extension

Death of a Monarch: The Complete Coverage

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