KATHMANDU: SSP Bishwa Adhikari, who was chief of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range during the deadly Gen-Z protests of September 8 and 9, has been recommended for promotion to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) even as an investigation into the crackdown remains incomplete.
The protests saw 76 casualties, including 17 deaths on September 8 alone, after security personnel opened fire near the Parliament building.
Earlier, on October 28, the interim government had promoted five SSPs to DIG but withheld Adhikari’s elevation, even though he ranked first on the recommendation list. Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal had blocked his promotion, citing the ongoing probe into the protest deaths.
However, on Monday, the Police Headquarters recommended Adhikari for DIG, bypassing the pending report of the Gauri Bahadur Karki-led commission tasked with investigating the use of force during the protests. The secretariat of the Promotion Committee under the Home Ministry endorsed the decision, stating that the list was prepared as per the Police Regulations, 2071.
Adhikari, who was transferred out of Kathmandu following the incident, is currently stationed at the Bagmati Province Police Office, Crime Control and Investigation Division, Hetauda. According to the committee, he scored 72.24 out of 75 in the evaluation.
After the Gen-Z protest killings, Home Minister Aryal had reshuffled the entire Kathmandu police leadership, replacing Adhikari with SSP Rashem Thapa. Had the decision not been halted at the time, Adhikari would already have assumed the DIG position on Kartik 10.
Adhikari, who joined the police service as an Assistant Sub-Inspector in 1998, has long been considered a fast-rising officer. He topped the SSP promotion list in April 2023 and is now set to wear the DIG insignia pending formal approval.
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