Nov 22, 2018-An employee of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) was shot dead by an unidentified assailant at Duhabi Municipality-9 in Sunsari district on Wednesday morning.
Mohammad Fida Hussein, 52, of Duhabi-9 was gunned down on the banks of Sunsari-Morang Irrigational Canal at Ranigaun, said police. The incident occurred around 6am as the victim was on a morning walk with his wife.
The assailant shot at Hussein immediately after his wife Aasha Khatun returned home. “I heard a gunshot when I walked about 25 metres, leaving him alone. As I looked back, I saw my husband lying on the ground. Then a man whisked away on a motorcycle that was earlier parked on the incident site,” said Khatun.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Gyanendra Phuyal said the victim was rushed to Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Hussein had been working at the NEA Distribution Centre in Itahari and held a part time job at a local brick kiln. The deceased was the brother of Duhabi-9 ward Chairman Mehadi Hussein. He said his brother had security threat as he had dispute in the brick kiln. Fida used to wear bullet proof jacket during morning walk but forgot to put it on today (Wednesday), said another family member.
According to Aasha, she saw the suspect on a bridge across the canal before the incident. “A man appeared to be in his mid-twenties was doing his morning exercise beside a parked motorbike on the side of the irrigation canal. I did not recognise him and the bike as I returned home before I reached the bridge,” said Aasha, adding that the man fled to the south after the incident.
The victim’s family, relatives and the locals enforced banda in Duhabi Bazaar in protest of the killing. They took out a protest rally in the town carrying Fida’s body, demanding immediate arrest of the guilty, compensation to the victim’s family, among others. Vehicular movement on the Biratnagar-Itahari road stretch has come to a halt due to the protest.
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress (NC) district committee condemned the incident and demanded swift action to arrest the guilty. NC lawmakers Laxman Mehata and Rajiv Koirala submitted a memorandum to the prime minister through Chief District Officer (CDO) Prem Prakash Uprety. The bereaved family as well as the NC warned that they would not receive the body until their demands were met. “Police detained some suspicious persons in connection with the incident. Investigation is underway,” said CDO Uprety.
After Wednesday’s incident, the Muslim community said the government failed to provide security to them despite repeated attacks on the Muslims. They demanded the resignation of home minister for his failure to maintain peace and security in the country.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
