Man Bahadur Budamagar was with Police Chief of Seti Zone SSP Laxman Neupane when he was lynched by the rioting mob on August 24. A head constable in the Nepal Police, Budamagar had been SSP Neupane’s personal body guard for the last 10 months.

Budamagar eyes were filled with tears of remorse as he remembered that dark day when he was unable to save his commander. On Thursday, we arrived at the scene where Budamagar had tried to get Neupane to safety from the raging mob that pursued the senior police officer. As the rioters continued to attack with domestic weapons, Budamagar, Neupane and handful of police personnel were no match—and eventually SSP Neupane and six other policemen succumbed to the repeated blows. Another policeman who had suffered critical injuries died on Thursday.

As he narrates the events of the day, he is filled with rage for how ill-equipped they (Nepal Police) were. ‘ We didn’t have enough weapons, limited numbers of Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) got stuck after one fire, while well equipped Armed Police Force who were close by refused to fire a shot—which led to so many deaths on the Nepal Police side.’

“Had the Armed Police helped, SSP sir would have lived,” says Budamagar. On Monday, protestors demanding a Tharuhat autonomous province in Tikapur, Kailali killed 9 people, including 8 Policemen and one two-year old toddler.