FNJ calls for a high investigation of the death of journalists Suresh Rajak

The Federation of Nepalese journalists (FNJ) called for the formation of an investigation committee on a high level to examine the suspicious death of journalist Suresh Rajak during a pro-monarchy rally on March 28.

Immediately after the suspicious death of Rajak, the Federation founded a seven -member committee under the direction of FNJ Umid Prasad Bagchand's vice president.

The report submitted by the committee has come to the conclusion that a thorough investigation is of essential importance to find out the truth, and several unanswered questions and cumbersome discrepancies in connection with Rajak's death.

Rajak was found dead in a building in Tinkune, which was burned during the protest by protest by pro-monarchy forces, which were organized under the banner of a uniform movement to restore the Hindu monarchy listed by Nabaraj Subedi.

The report emphasized that people who suspect murder -suspect to participate should be officially referred to as defendants in a criminal complaint about murder.

The report raised some questions why Rajak stayed in the combustion chamber when others escaped. The report proposed to identify the people who were present there until the last moments and who were the scene of the room until the last. It also points to the lack of his camera, the damage to one of his two mobile phones and increases the possibility of a targeted attack by demonstrators who angry with him to film the protests up close.

“It must be examined whether the attackers confiscated his equipment and prevented him from escaping it,” the report says. “These critical unanswered questions require immediate and impartial examinations.”

The FNJ also showed an alarm about the increasing hostility to journalists and found that Rajak and others may be aimed not to support the royalist. The report accuses Pro Monarchy demonstrators of systematically attacking the mainstream media staff, especially during the protest in Tinkune, Kathmandu.

After the demonstrators had used vandalism and arson in public as well as private buildings and vehicles and other properties for TINKOURS, they had in the offices of the herbal production and processing company in Jadibuti, Kantipur Television, the Annapurna Media Network, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Bhatbhatei Supermarket, among other things, other attacked.

A youthful Sabin Maharjan from Kirtipur was also shot in the same protest.

Citing a broader trend, the FNJ revealed that 38 journalists in Nepal have been killed in 1999, including two in the last one year – Suresh Rajak in Kathmandu and Suresh Bhul in Kailali. Between April 2024 and April 2025, the Federation also recorded 73 violations of freedom of the press and affected 151 journalists and five media.

The report criticizes both the government and the media houses that journalists who work under dangerous conditions do not offer physical protection or insurance. It also warns that the quick development of digital media has added new threats, including online nuisance and misinformation campaigns that stimulate hostility to reporters.

The FNJ called for urgent political and legal reforms to ensure the security of journalists and freedom of the press in an increasingly volatile media landscape.