Former Crown Prince Paras says Dipendra killed his family due to a failed arms deal
Former crown prince Paras Shah has said the erstwhile crown prince Dipendra Shah killed his family members before shooting himself in the 2001 royal massacre due to a failed arms deal.
In an exclusive interview with The New Paper published from Singapore on Sunday, Paras Shah said there were three reasons which evoked the violent idea in Dipendra’s mind, the arms deal being the decisive one.
'The Nepali army was looking for a new weapon to replace the Belgian SLR. Dipendra liked the German Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle, as opposed to the battle-tested Colt M16,' the web version of the newspaper quoted former Prince Paras as saying.
'But his father, His Majesty (King Birendra), did not agree. I know that they argued over it. Dipendra was frustrated. He wasn't happy. He told me,' said Paras.
The German assault rifle had been short-listed by the army, which was in the market for 50,000 new guns.
According to Paras, his cousin's advisers had been working on the deal, which could have brought the crown prince a windfall.
'That, to me, was the real trigger. The deal would have probably been for about 50,000 rifles, which at US $300 apiece, would work out to about US$15 million.'
Responding on why the crown prince was after money when his family’s net worth itself ran into billions, Paras said 'Yes, but I think he was already making plans for the possibility that he would have to leave the country suddenly if things didn't work out for him. I think this was his back-up plan.'
Breaking his long silence on one of the bloodiest massacres in history, former crown prince Paras told The New Paper that Dipendra had not one but three reasons for wanting to kill his own father.
The other two, according to Paras, were his affair with Devyani Rana and his father’s decision to allow multi-party democracy in the country.
‘Dipendra was never the same after his father told him in 1990 about his plans to give up absolute monarchy. He never agreed with that as he wanted to rule the country. I think he started planning his moves then,' said former prince Paras, who grew up with the crown prince as the two were just six months apart in age.
The other reason was his love for Devyani Rana. The royal family did not want crown prince Dipendra to marry her as she was from a rival family.
Former crown princ Paras’s interview comes two months after incumbent Prime Minister and chairman of the Maoists Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced to re-open the files of the royal massacre and investigate on the issue to let the people know the truth.
Many people believe that Paras was involved in the incident on June 1 2001.
According to the website, Paras decided to speak to senior Singapore media men reacting to the Nepali PM's announcement, in an attempt to clear his name from the incident.
Enough is enough, says former crown prince Paras. 'The Nepali people need to know the truth.’ nepalnews.com Mar 30 09
