Two weeks after the death of its top leader, Central Working Committee (CWC) members of the Nepali Congress on Tuesday demanded a probe into Sushil Koirala’s death, calling it “unnatural and suspicious”.

CWC members Surya Man Gurung, Bal Krishna Khand and Govinda Bhattarai, all close to senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, questioned the circumstances in which former prime minister and party president Koirala died and sought a probe into the matter. However, the CWC is yet to take any decision.

Koirala died shortly before 1am on February 9.

This is not the first time questions have been raised about the circumstances in which the NC leader died. 

Immediately after Koirala’s death, the rival NC faction, led by Deuba, had accused the establishment camp of “covering up Koirala’s deteriorating health condition for political gains” in view of the upcoming General Convention where he was expected to run for a second term for the post of party president. 

Some doctors have also questioned the handling of Koirala’s illness. 

“The basic principle for patients like Koirala, who had weak lungs, is they should be rushed to hospital just when the condition starts to deteriorate. At the hospital, the treating doctor can do proper investigation, initiate treatment and monitor the patient closely,” said Dr Arjun Karki, a chest specialist. “Without understanding the actual circumstances, it is difficult to make a judgement on the treatment administered to Koirala.”

Dr Karbir Nath Yogi, Koirala’s personal physician, has been maintaining that the death of former prime minister was due to pneumonia and that there were plans to take him to hospital. 

But the idea of transferring him to hospital was dropped, Dr Yogi said, after there were some improvements on his condition. Days after Koirala’s death, Dr Yogi at a press meet had claimed that he had made numerous phone calls to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for an ambulance, but his calls were not received. 

He had said that vehicles available at Koirala’s residence were not used because they were not well-equipped for transferring a patient like Koirala. Koirala had developed lungs infection for weeks and was administered antibiotics after which his body had shown improvements. He also had pneumonia and was on oxygen support while at home. 

“It is natural for the party members to feel sad over Koirala’s death. Also, the cadres are also not much informed. However, as I have reiterated, we did our best,” said Dr Yogi. 

He declined to comment further.