Nepal's official media said the 39-year-old had been formally charged with attempted murder in Chitwan, the dream destination for tourists in southern Nepal where a party thrown to celebrate his daughter's birthday landed Paras in deep trouble. The celebrations at the famed Tiger Tops wildlife resort in Chitwan turned into violence and panic after Paras got into an argument with a fellow guest, who also happened to be a foreigner and the son-in-law of Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala.
Back in Kathmandu after his vacation with his family was cut shot rudely, a visibly shaken Rubel Chowdhury - the target of Paras' anger - said the former heir to Nepal's throne blamed his mother-in-law's family for the abolition of monarchy and sought to take him to the forest at midnight "to watch tigers". When he refused, Chowdhury said Paras whipped out his gun and pointed it at his head. When Paras' bodyguards and his own friends managed to separate them and smuggle him out of the resort, he said he had to stay hidden in the jungle for almost two hours wondering about his wife and three and a half year old son, who were in the hotel and whom Paras had threatened to kill in his drunken fury.
With Chowdhury being a Bangladeshi citizen, there was diplomatic pressure on Nepal's caretaker government to take stern action against Paras, as well as mounting political pressure from Koirala's Nepali Congress party, not to mention a relentless media campaign. While Koirala herself, currently out of Nepal, had asked Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal for action against Paras, stalwarts from her party met both Nepal and Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to press for the demand. With parliament being summoned for a special session from Sunday, the prime minister had little option but to placate his biggest ally in the house and order the home ministry to go ahead with arrest procedures.
Paras, dismissing the furore as much ado over a personal spat, had proceeded to Pokhara city from Chitwan, billeting at another five-star resort, the Fulbari. Around noon, a police team headed by district police chief Keshav Adhikari surrounded the resort and arrested Paras. Reports said Paras tried to resist the arrest by refusing to sign the warrant and board the waiting helicopter that was to take him back to Chitwan. He also reportedly refused to answer questions saying he would not speak till his lawyers arrived.
Lawyer Narayan Shrestha, warning that Paras case should not become a tool to settle political scores, said the former prince could be tried for possessing an illegal weapon, creating public nuisance and attempted murder. While the first two offences can be settled by paying a fine, if the judge wills, the last one carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years.
This is the first time that a former royal has been taken under police control. In the past, after his army-backed government fell and King Gyanendra faced the scrapping of all his privileges, regarding legal immunity, he had been summoned by a commission to answer queries about the excessive use of force during the last days of his government but refused without facing any adverse consequence.
Paras' fall comes at a time when he returned from his self-imposed exile in Singapore and was becoming active socially, inaugurating temples and appearing at religious gatherings organised by royalists. Regarded as a major factor for the abolition of monarchy, Paras had claimed he had reformed
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