Nepal’s ex-crown prince released on bail

KATHMANDU - Nepal’s controversial former crown prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Thursday walked out of police custody on bail after being accused of having threatened the son-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala in a drunken brawl during the weekend.

Hundreds of royalist supporters gathered in front of the chief district officer’s office in Chitwan district in southern Nepal and shouted slogans in support of the crown and the former prince as the 39-year-old was released on a bail of NRS 10,000.

The district authorities and police were hard-pressed to bring charges against him for being involved in an alleged gun brawl in the Tiger Tops wildlife resort Saturday after his alleged victim, Koirala’s son-in-law Rubel Chowdhury, refused to bring formal charges against him.

Earlier, Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi national, had claimed Paras pointed a gun at his head after a drunken argument and threatened to kill him, his wife Melanie and their three-and a-half-year-old son.

After that, Paras was said to have rushed outside and fired in the air.

Though he could have been charged with carrying an illegal weapon, firing in a protected area and attempted murder, the case petered out with a nervous Chowdhury refusing to lodge even an official complaint and police bringing only a milder charge of committing a public offence.