Gorkha, August 17
Home Minister Sudan Gurung has directed police to immediately remove a fence installed to protect land owned by the Nepal Police in Manakamana, Gorkha, leaving local representatives and the police administration confused.
The Home Minister issued the directive on Sunday while meeting voters in Manakamana. After hearing complaints from locals, he instructed the police to remove the fence surrounding the land belonging to the Area Police Office.
However, local representatives and residents say the land belongs to the police and that the fence was installed last year to protect it from encroachment and facilitate construction of a new police office.
They have questioned why the fence should be removed when it has been installed on police-owned property.
The land, located near the ward office in Shahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-2, is registered under plot number 799 in the name of the Nepal Police. Police had fenced the property last year with plans to construct a new building for the Area Police Office.
The Home Minister’s directive has now left the police administration uncertain about how to proceed.
Ramesh Thapa Magar, chairperson of Shahid Lakhan Rural Municipality, said Home Minister Gurung may have been given incorrect information by people pursuing their own interests.
“The Home Minister’s responsibility is to properly manage the Nepal Police. The Manakamana police office is currently operating on trust land. The police should have protected their own land and proceeded with construction of the police office,” Magar said.
“But someone appears to have briefed the Home Minister incorrectly.”
Magar said preparations were also underway to upgrade the Area Police Office to a ‘Category A’ facility, making a permanent building necessary.
Shakun Thapa, ward chairperson of Shahid Lakhan-2, also said there was no reason to remove the fence.
“That is the police office’s land. I don’t see any reason to demolish a fence installed on its own land,” she said.
Thapa said a court case had previously been filed over the land, following which the Survey Office had separated the areas belonging to the ward office, police office and public land.
“The Home Minister may not have known about this. Some people may have tried to influence him for their own interests,” she said.
Local resident Dinesh Joshi also confirmed that the fenced land belongs to the Nepal Police.
“The police office has not occupied anyone else’s land. It has fenced its own land,” he said.
Locals say some people had previously been using the property for their own purposes, including storing construction materials and parking vehicles. The dispute intensified after police fenced the land, preventing such use.
According to locals, some residents of Pujari village have been putting pressure on authorities to remove the fence.
Gorkha District Police Chief SP Anil Kumar Khadka said the fence was installed to protect the police office’s own property.
“We fenced our own police office land to protect it. Now the Home Minister has instructed us to remove it,” Khadka said. “We will coordinate with police headquarters and proceed according to the instructions from higher authorities.”
Gorkha Chief District Officer Tulsi Bahadur Shrestha declined to comment on the matter.
This is not the first time Home Minister Gurung has faced criticism over directives issued during his visits to his home district. He had previously faced criticism over his directive concerning the management of Bahrakilo Bazaar, which has been established through encroachment on forest land.
