'Didn’t blame India for royal murders'

Nepal’s Maoist supremo Prachanda, who has steeped up anti-India rhetorics since he resigned as the Prime Minister, on Sunday dismissed reports that he had blamed New Delhi for the murder of former King Birendra and communist leader Madan Bhandari, reports Shirish B. Pradhan.

Nepal’s Maoist supremo Prachanda, who has steeped up anti-India rhetorics since he resigned as the Prime Minister, on Sunday dismissed reports that he had blamed New Delhi for the murder of former King Birendra and communist leader Madan Bhandari.

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Nepal’s former king Birendra was killed along with most of the royal family in the 2001 palace massacre by the then crown prince Dipendra, who was allegedly fuelled by a cocktail of drugs and alcohol.

Bhandari died in 1993 in a road accident in mysterious manner. Prachanda dismissed reports that he had blamed India for the death of the former monarch and Bhandari.

“I did not blame India for the murders,” Prachanda said.

The Maoist mouthpiece had reported Prachanda saying during a programme on Saturday that Birendra and Bhandari were killed by “expansionist forces” as they tried to defend national independence and maintain civilian supremacy.

Last month, Prachanda had blamed India’s “naked interference” for the political crisis in Nepal. He had described Madhave Kumar Nepal’s government as a “puppet government” controlled from New Delhi.