Nepal to reinvestigate 2001 royal palace massacre

Nepal's reappointed Home Minister Sudhan Gurung announced on Tuesday that he will reopen the investigation into a two-and-a-half-decade-old royal family massacre.

"Regarding the Narayanhiti royal massacre that happened on June 1, 2001, reports related to the incident will be studied, and an additional investigation will be carried out," Gurung told the media shortly after taking over the Home Ministry.

He also announced the formation of an investigation committee to look into the murder of royal family members inside a heavily guarded palace, which is regarded as one of the most high-profile incidents in the small Himalayan country's political history.

In June 2001, while attending a party at Kathmandu's Narayanhiti Royal Palace, King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah, Queen Aishwarya, two of their sons, and other royal family members were murdered.

The royal family massacre prompted the formation of a high-level committee led by then-Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyay, who later submitted a report. The report itself sparked controversy because stakeholders did not accept it. Critics argue that the report failed to spell out the truth.

Earlier, on April 22 of this year, Gurung resigned from his ministry after being accused of investing in companies owned by Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal, two controversial businessmen who have been arrested on money laundering charges.

Later, a probe committee cleared Gurung, allowing him to return to the same ministry.

Earlier on Tuesday, President Ramchandra Paudel reappointed Gurung as home minister.

Following the royal family massacre, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah declared himself the new king. He later became involved in active politics, dissolving the Cabinet. That made the royal palace even more unpopular.

Major parliamentary political parties and Maoist rebels staged a joint protest against the monarch. In 2008, a Constituent Assembly formed following a popular uprising deposed a centuries-old Hindu monarch, establishing Nepal as a republic.