Nepali Acting Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ananda Prasad Sharma, sustained four cut wounds after he was assaulted with knife at his office on Thursday by a fellow citizen.

The assailant identified as Laxman Bahadur Rai of Sunsari barged into Sharma’s office and attacked him this morning.

“He [Rai] suddenly came into my office while I was working, shut the door and started attacking me,” said Sharma, talking briefly to the Post. Doctors have put stitches in his mouth.

A special team of Saudi Police deployed for the Embassy’s security broke open the door and rescued ambassador Sharma. “We learnt about the incident after Sharma cried out. A serious incident was averted due to timely intervention of police,” said an official at the embassy.

Rai went on the rampage at around 11 am local time apparently for delaying his return to Nepal. He was taking refuge at the embassy.

Police immediately rushed him to King Faisal Hospital. “He has a deep cut wound in his shoulder and is out of danger. The hospital is preparing to discharge him today itself,” the official said.

According to the embassy, Rai has psychiatric disorder. He arrived in Saudia Arabia three months back. We gave him refuge at the shelter after finding that he was a mental case. “We took him to Riyadh Airport as he was supposed to board a flight on April 11. But he refused to return upon reaching the airport. We were preparing to repatriate him today,” he added.

The embassy only learnt this morning that Rai had assaulted his company manager with knife and fled before coming to the embassy. “We have heard that Rai had also served a jail term in Qatar. It seems Rai’s background needs to been checked thoroughly.”

The Foreign Ministry had appointed Sharma as deputy chief of the mission on May 7, 2015. He took over as acting ambassador from the first week of August, 2015, after former ambassador Udaya Raj Pandey returned completing his four-year tenure.

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Nepali Acting Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ananda Prasad Sharma, was assaulted with knife at his office on Thursday by a fellow citizen.

The youth, who was taking refuge at the embassy, apparently went on the rampage for delaying his return to Nepal.

According to Riyadh-based Nepali Embassy, the youth identified as Laxman Bahadur Rai abruptly assaulted Sharma while he was alone at his office.  The assailant is said to have psychiatric disorder.

Injured Sharma has been undergoing treatment at King Faisala Hospital. He was immediately rushed to the hospital and is said to be out of danger.

Rai has been detained by Saudi Police. “Rai has been trying to return Nepal for the past 10 days. The Embassy had initiated the process to send him back. He missed his flight on April 11,” an official at the Embassy told the Post, “He suddenly attacked though preparations were being made for his repatriation.”

In a press statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the incident and condemned the act.  But the Ministry has not made public the reason behind the attack. The assailant was taking refuge at the embassy, the statement said.

Though the statement said Saudi Police have detained the assailant for legal action, it has not revealed his identity.

The Foreign Ministry said its serious attention has been drawn towards the incident and sought details from the embassy.