Kingdom Lost – Sagar S.J.B. Rana

On this dark night of madness, mayhem and horror, Dipendra shot and killed his father, mother, uncle Dhirendra, sister Shruti, and five other closely related family members, and seriously wounded several others in ‘barely five minutes that seemed to go on forever. ‘What have you done?’ Birendra mumbled in dismay as he was felled by the first burst of fire. Dipendra then sauntered onto the veranda, leaving behind his bleeding father and the stunned group. Two of the royals present, neither of whom wish to be named, heard the delirious crown prince mutter, ‘I am the king now, or words to that effect. More than one survivor subsequently revealed privately and, more recently, publicly, their belief: ‘Dipendra intended to kill only his father. By law, that would have made him the king. Then he would have told us to keep quiet. It might have worked; no one would have dared speak the truth. But the crown prince had realised that additional shots were required to finish off the king. He re-entered the room and when Dhirendra tried to intervene, he shot him at point-blank range. Then he seemed to go berserk. With no hint of mercy, he repeatedly shot first at his father and then at more than a dozen members of the extended family. Only the younger lot were let off, as Gyanendra’s son Paras, a cousin he liked, begged for mercy on their behalf. Dipendra seemed possessed. ‘I will never in my life forget his demonic eyes as he looked down at me as I lay face up, bleeding. He shot my wife [Princess Shruti], who was covering my body protectively, and then again me, recounts Gorakh Rana. The princess died in hospital, but Gorakh, though shot four times, survived by a miracle: the gold chain he wore around the neck, believed to be blessed, blunted the impact of the lethal bullet. Ketaki narrates another shocking scene that forever haunted her: ‘Dipendra was kicking his father, who lay critically wounded on the floor, with blood all around him. Still unscathed, Queen Aishwarya ran out and up the stairs, either to escape or to get a gun, but Dipendra followed and shot her, too. The demented prince may then have shot himself through the left temple, the only act for which there is no eyewitness and one which has generated some dispute. It was about this time that the aides-de-camp and guards in the outhouse finally arrived.

Kingdom Lost – Sagar S.J.B. Rana