Kathmandu, July 22: The SUV that was found parked under suspicious circumstances outside the Kantipur Media Group office on July 13 was later used by Home Minister Sudhan Gurung during the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s national convention in Chitwan, according to a report by Onlinekhabar.
The vehicle, bearing registration number Ba Pradesh 01 034 Cha 8480, was abandoned outside the Kantipur office early that morning by a masked individual wearing dark sunglasses, eyewitnesses said. CCTV footage from the media house also captured the incident.
The same day, similar suspicious vehicles were parked outside the offices of Onlinekhabar in Buddhanagar and Himalaya Television in Mid Baneshwor. After police allegedly failed to remove the vehicles despite being informed, Kantipur arranged for a crane to tow away the SUV.
Onlinekhabar said it verified more than a dozen video clips recorded during the RSP convention in Chitwan, held from July 5, showing the same SUV accompanying Gurung’s movements as part of his security convoy. The report said the footage also shows the minister using the vehicle.
The report further claimed that Gurung had used the same SUV on June 28 while traveling from Hetauda to Pathlaiya in Bara. An unnamed police officer in Bara confirmed to Onlinekhabar that authorities had identified the vehicle after learning of the minister’s visit, although the trip had not been officially communicated.
“We checked the vehicle details after learning that the Home Minister had arrived. It was a black JAC J60 with registration number Ba Pradesh 01 034 Cha 8480. We later received information that the minister switched vehicles before heading east,” the officer was quoted as saying.
When contacted, Bara Deputy Superintendent of Police Prakash Sapkota said he was unaware of the matter, while Makwanpur DSP Madhav Prasad Kafle also said he had no information about the vehicle.
Citing an official at the Prime Minister’s Office, Onlinekhabar reported that individuals linked to the Home Ministry were responsible for placing the vehicles outside the media houses. The unnamed official claimed initial information suggested involvement from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, but later inquiries indicated the operation had been carried out under the Home Minister’s direction. The official described the incident as “completely wrong.”
Onlinekhabar said it attempted to contact the vehicle’s registered owner, Ravi Jaiswal, for comment, but his phone was switched off.
Neither Home Minister Gurung nor the Home Ministry has publicly responded to the allegations.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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