Indian priest shot dead in Nepal

An Indian priest in the neighboring Nepal was shot dead by a group of armed gunmen, yesterday. The assassination is claimed to be the first to mark the history of Catholic Church in Nepal, a Hindu dominant country.

The Salesian Fr. John Prakash, a native of Kerala was aged 60 and served as a principal of Don Bosco Christian school in Sirsiya, Morang district.

According to reports, a group of 4 to 5 armed men intruded the Sirsiya Mission premises and forced the security guard to take them to the Presbytery. While one of the Salesian priests, saw the commotion and was reporting to the police, the attackers locked him from outside and proceeded to Fr. John’s room.

The men who reportedly carried bombs shot Fr. Johnson – one on chest and the other on stomach.

"There was an explosion and when the police arrived, there were signs of struggle. On one side of the room the windows were smashed and broken glass was everywhere," reported a spokesperson from the group adding, "When they went to Fr. John’s room they were shocked to see him lying lifeless on the floor with blood oozing from beneath.”

Latest reports now confirm that Hindu extremist pamphlets were found at the murder site, which indicates the role of Hindu nationalists in the country.

Father George Kalangara, a Salesian priest said, pamphlets from the Nepal Defence Army (NDA) were found at the site of murder.

NDA, which vies to restore Nepal as an exclusive Hindu nation, has been responsible for several bomb blasts across Nepal from the year 2006.

Apparently the Hindu extremists had three months ago asked the priests in the Christian mission to leave and threatened them with dire consequences if they failed.

According to the 2001 census, 80.6 percent of Nepalese are Hindu, 10.7 percent are Buddhist, 4.2 percent Muslim and 0.5 percent Christian.