Five days have elapsed since Jaya Singh Dhami, 33, of Khaldang, Malghat in Byas Rural Municipality of Darchula district, has gone missing in the Mahakali River. Last Friday he fell into the swollen river when a member of Indian Sashastra Sima Bal (SSB) allegedly cut a cable bridge, locally known as Tuin, through which Singh was crossing it. The eyewitnesses said that they screamed and beseeched the Indian border guards not to destroy the improvised cable crossing but to no avail. The Indian government has denied the involvement of its security personnel in the heinous act. Singh was coming to the district headquarters, Khalanga, and he had a plan to travel to Kathmandu. In order to find the fact and truth about the incident, the government has formed an investigation panel under the joint-secretary at the Ministry of Home Janardan Gautam, which is collecting evidences from the site and statements from the eyewitnesses.

Nepali authorities have sought the support from their Indian counterpart to provide details of the incident and initiate action accordingly. Now Jaya Singh Dhami has been presumed dead and this has devastated his family members and relatives. They had lodged a complaint against the SSB personnel at the District Police Office in Darchula, demanding a fair probe into the incident. Likewise, locals of Byas have also submitted a memorandum to Darchula CDO and demanded that the culprits be brought to book. Their complaint is based on the accounts provided by the eyewitnesses and local people, who said that the SSB personnel fled from the scene after snapping the Tuin cable. They also threatened the locals at the Indian side not to disclose about the incident, according to the complaint.

The government is waiting for the report of the investigation and has refrained from passing any judgement on the dastardly act that has triggered nationwide protests. On Tuesday lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties criticised the government for delay in finding Dhami – dead or alive – and taking swift action to give justice to his family. Speaking at the meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR), they were unanimous to state that the government had to deal with the incident through diplomatic channel and by forming a parliamentary committee to look into the matter. One lawmaker suggested forming a joint committee including the representatives from both Nepal and India in order to give justice to the victim. Minister for Home Bal Krishna Khand informed the parliament about the incident and expressed the government’s commitment to take steps as per the findings of the probe panel, according to a news report carried by this daily.

The disappearance of Dhami brings many bitter truths to the fore. On the one hand, it exposes the SSB’s continuous excesses against Nepali citizens living along the border and on the other it shows the neglect of Nepali state towards her own people in far western part of the country. Darchula people have to still use the India’s territory to reach the district headquarters. The government must focus on the development of basic infrastructure for the locals. Now Nepal and India must work together to build a bridge over the Mahakali River so that the people are not forced to use the dangerous cable to cross the river. Forcing an innocent man to fall into a flooded river is a serious crime. Therefore, the Indian government must cooperate with its Nepali counterpart to punish the individual involved in it.