A probe ordered by Nepal's new king into the Friday massacre of the royal family was in disarray yesterday, with the main opposition refusing to take part and fresh accounts of what happened blaming the late crown prince.
As the capital awoke after the lifting of a curfew imposed to prevent fresh riots by Nepalis demanding the truth, The Washington Post quoted an immediate relative of a witness as saying that crown prince Dipendra shot dead his father and other members of his family before turning the gun on himself.
Other media, including the Nepali weekly newspaper Jana Aastha, and a friend of the royal family gave similar accounts as attention shifted to whether any inquiry would be able to question those who survived the bloodbath.
"If the committee gets the right to question all concerned people, to visit the relevant places, and to take the assistance of specialists, then the committee would be able to find the facts," opposition leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said.
Newly crowned King Gyanendra named Kumar Nepal, head of the United Marxist Leninist Party, to a three-member panel to probe the massacre but he declined the invitation saying he wanted other parties to be involved as well.
King Gyanendra is battling to restore the role of the monarchy as a pillar of stability in the Himalayan kingdom of 22 million people where poverty and political infighting are rife and Maoist rebels are fighting to set up a communist republic.
Gyanendra's wife and sister were wounded in the shooting and are among witnesses who could be questioned about what happened.
"The family knows the truth, so if there is some kind of whitewash, I am sure various family members will speak up," The Washington Post quoted the relative as saying. "Why he did it, we may never know, but this is actually what happened."
Dipendra, who had been in a coma since Friday's incident, died on Monday from gunshot wounds. He was an early suspect. Officials, who later retracted, spoke of a dispute with his parents over the choice of his bride.
Some ordinary Nepalis, who view their royal family as reincarnations of gods, reacted angrily this week to suggestions that Dipendra had killed his family.
King Gyanendra has spoken of an accident and state radio has blamed an exploding automatic weapon.
The capital was calm yesterday after the 12-hour curfew, which ended at midnight. "There was no major incident during the [curfew] period," an interior ministry official said. Officials later announced another curfew was to be imposed last night to prevent rioting.
The new king, who was out of town when the massacre occurred, set up his panel on Monday as people took to the streets of Katmandu and other cities demanding the truth behind the deaths of his brother King Birendra, the queen and seven other members of the family. Two people died in riots that followed.
King Gyanendra had asked for a report within three days.
The Washington Post said the late crown prince, 29, had been tending bar at a family gathering in the royal palace before the massacre. He slipped away and returned wearing an army uniform and holding an Uzi submachine gun and an M-16 assault rifle.
The newspaper quoted the relative of the witness as saying that he then strode into an adjacent room where his father was sitting and shot him with one of the automatic weapons, before embarking on an indiscriminate shooting spree.
"He said nothing at all throughout the whole episode, and there was no expression whatever on his face," the Post quoted the relative as saying. "He just fired indiscriminately."
India's Star News television said that at least 12 people had survived the bloodbath. It said that sources who had spoken to some of them confirmed that Dipendra had killed his family.
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