<p>Policemen in large numbers surrounded the plush Fulbari resort in Pokhara Tuesday, where the 39-year-old former heir to Nepal’s throne, had flown with his friends after creating a hullabaloo during the weekend in southern Nepal.<br /><br />After a standoff with the hotel authorities, police had taken Paras under control and were readying to fly him back to Chitwan district, where the brawl had occurred, for questioning.<br /><br />The payback for the wayward prince started after he got into a drunken dispute with a fellow guest Saturday night at the Tiger Tops wildlife lodge in Chitwan district, threatened his victim and fired shots in the air. </p>.<p>Ordinarily, the brawl would have been hushed up but the incident snowballed since the victim was the son-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala.<br /><br />Paras reportedly declined to speak, saying he wanted to return to his residence in Kathmandu and consult his lawyers first.<br /><br />The police action came after mounting public and political pressure on the caretaker government of Nepal to take punitive action against the wayward former royal. <br /> <br />The 39-year-old controversial former heir to Nepal’s throne, notorious for his quick temper and fondness for alcohol, hit the headlines with a vengeance two years after the abolition of monarchy in Nepal and his self-exile to Singapore for picking a drink-driven fight with Rubel Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi national married to Koirala’s daughter Melanie.<br /><br />During the quarrel, Paras allegedly threatened to kill Chowdhury along with his wife and three-and-a-half year old son, and finally fired several shots in the air.<br /><br />As media outcry and political condemnation started pouring in, it was also discovered that the pony-tailed former prince did not have a licence for his pistol.<br /><br />Though Nepal’s weak caretaker government had initially turned a blind eye to the shooting, it was however forced to take token action after protests by Koirala’s Nepali Congress, the largest party in the ruling alliance, and the media outcry.<br /><br />After a four-member police team had been sent to the Chitwan resort to investigate, the home ministry said it had also formed a second probe panel headed by a deputy inspector-general of police.</p>.<p>This is the first time that police have taken into custody a member of the erstwhile royal family that, though stripped of all legal immunity after the abolition of monarchy in 2008, continues to wield formidable power still.<br /><br />Paras’ victim, Rubel Chowdhury remained shaken still. Chowdhury said Paras had got into a conversation with him at the Chitwan resort Saturday night.<br /><br />Initially, he seemed a “nice guy”, Chowdhury said, till he began drinking. When a change came over the former crown prince who revealed his raw wound at having lost his chance to become the king of Nepal and being turned into a commoner.<br /><br />Chowdhury said he accused the Koirala family of being instrumental in the abolition of monarchy and threatened to kill Chowdhury, his wife and son.<br /><br />Issuing a statement soon after the brawl, Paras said Chowdhury and his companion, an Indian, had insulted him, his family and his country, an allegation that Chowdhury denied.<br />“How could I insult Nepal?” Chowdhury said. “I am married to a Nepali myself.”<br /><br />Paras’ new escapade resurrects the ghost of the royal massacre of 2001 when King Birendra and nine more members of the royal family were killed in a hail of bullets in the tightly guarded royal palace, paving the way for Paras' father Gyanendra to ascend the throne.<br /><br />Paras, who was present during the carnage but survived, is regarded with suspicion by Nepalis despite his statements that the bloodbath was perpetrated by Birendra’s son Dipendra.<br /><br />Now there is also fresh public concern about the number of illegal firearms still lying in the possession of Nepal’s former royals.<br /><br />Carrying a gun illegally can fetch its owner a fine ranging from NRS 60,000-140,000 or a prison sentence of up to seven years or both.<br /><br />He could also face an attempt to murder, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years.<br /></p>
<p>Policemen in large numbers surrounded the plush Fulbari resort in Pokhara Tuesday, where the 39-year-old former heir to Nepal’s throne, had flown with his friends after creating a hullabaloo during the weekend in southern Nepal.<br /><br />After a standoff with the hotel authorities, police had taken Paras under control and were readying to fly him back to Chitwan district, where the brawl had occurred, for questioning.<br /><br />The payback for the wayward prince started after he got into a drunken dispute with a fellow guest Saturday night at the Tiger Tops wildlife lodge in Chitwan district, threatened his victim and fired shots in the air. </p>.<p>Ordinarily, the brawl would have been hushed up but the incident snowballed since the victim was the son-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala.<br /><br />Paras reportedly declined to speak, saying he wanted to return to his residence in Kathmandu and consult his lawyers first.<br /><br />The police action came after mounting public and political pressure on the caretaker government of Nepal to take punitive action against the wayward former royal. <br /> <br />The 39-year-old controversial former heir to Nepal’s throne, notorious for his quick temper and fondness for alcohol, hit the headlines with a vengeance two years after the abolition of monarchy in Nepal and his self-exile to Singapore for picking a drink-driven fight with Rubel Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi national married to Koirala’s daughter Melanie.<br /><br />During the quarrel, Paras allegedly threatened to kill Chowdhury along with his wife and three-and-a-half year old son, and finally fired several shots in the air.<br /><br />As media outcry and political condemnation started pouring in, it was also discovered that the pony-tailed former prince did not have a licence for his pistol.<br /><br />Though Nepal’s weak caretaker government had initially turned a blind eye to the shooting, it was however forced to take token action after protests by Koirala’s Nepali Congress, the largest party in the ruling alliance, and the media outcry.<br /><br />After a four-member police team had been sent to the Chitwan resort to investigate, the home ministry said it had also formed a second probe panel headed by a deputy inspector-general of police.</p>.<p>This is the first time that police have taken into custody a member of the erstwhile royal family that, though stripped of all legal immunity after the abolition of monarchy in 2008, continues to wield formidable power still.<br /><br />Paras’ victim, Rubel Chowdhury remained shaken still. Chowdhury said Paras had got into a conversation with him at the Chitwan resort Saturday night.<br /><br />Initially, he seemed a “nice guy”, Chowdhury said, till he began drinking. When a change came over the former crown prince who revealed his raw wound at having lost his chance to become the king of Nepal and being turned into a commoner.<br /><br />Chowdhury said he accused the Koirala family of being instrumental in the abolition of monarchy and threatened to kill Chowdhury, his wife and son.<br /><br />Issuing a statement soon after the brawl, Paras said Chowdhury and his companion, an Indian, had insulted him, his family and his country, an allegation that Chowdhury denied.<br />“How could I insult Nepal?” Chowdhury said. “I am married to a Nepali myself.”<br /><br />Paras’ new escapade resurrects the ghost of the royal massacre of 2001 when King Birendra and nine more members of the royal family were killed in a hail of bullets in the tightly guarded royal palace, paving the way for Paras' father Gyanendra to ascend the throne.<br /><br />Paras, who was present during the carnage but survived, is regarded with suspicion by Nepalis despite his statements that the bloodbath was perpetrated by Birendra’s son Dipendra.<br /><br />Now there is also fresh public concern about the number of illegal firearms still lying in the possession of Nepal’s former royals.<br /><br />Carrying a gun illegally can fetch its owner a fine ranging from NRS 60,000-140,000 or a prison sentence of up to seven years or both.<br /><br />He could also face an attempt to murder, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years.<br /></p>