The death of Avenue Television cameraman Suresh Rajak, who was found burned after an arson incident in Tinkune, remains mysterious. There are still unanswered questions about why he was not rescued from the scene or why he did not escape on his own.
After the fire broke out, the police entered the house and later came out, stating that there were no human casualties. However, Suresh was still inside, burning. Various people had already informed the police that someone was trapped inside. It remains a matter of investigation whether the police failed to search for him properly, did not find him, or found him but concealed the information.
Several video footages related to Suresh Rajak have emerged. In one of them, he is seen casually using his mobile phone inside a room while the fire had already started on the lower floors. It is possible that he was unaware of the fire at that moment.
Another video, which could be crucial for the investigation, was recorded by a cameraman from Vikas News. This footage, showing scenes inside the burned building, was uploaded three days after the incident, on March 31. In the 4-minute-56-second edited video, Suresh Rajak is seen multiple times, holding a large SLR camera in his hands.
The video captures scenes of looting and vandalism inside the building. Some individuals, appearing to be vigilantes (some carrying national flags on their shoulders), are seen breaking furniture and throwing items out of windows. Their faces are clearly visible in the footage.
The video also shows a man carrying a laptop from the office. The cameraman follows him, asking, “What are you doing? Is this allowed?” The looter responds, “This will be taken down and burned.”
The scenes of vandalism and the laptop being taken occur on different floors. The vandalism happened in a law firm on the fourth floor, where Suresh Rajak was filming. The laptop was taken from a floor below, and it has not been recovered.
The vigilantes also tried to stop the Vikas News cameraman and asked him to delete the footage. A dispute ensued, but another journalist intervened, allowing the cameraman to escape.
In the same video, a voice is heard saying, “My Viber is working; I’m in a dangerous place.” It is suspected to be Suresh’s voice, as he was live-streaming via Viber for Avenue Television at the time.
According to Avenue Television’s news chief, Kedar Koirala, Suresh’s live stream was abruptly cut off. After that, multiple calls were made to him, but he did not respond.
“We had regular contact with the Master Control Room (MCR), but after the live stream was cut, we lost communication,” Koirala said.
At that time, Raju Shrestha was on duty at the MCR. He stated that Suresh never mentioned being in a “dangerous place” during their communication.
“We were live-streaming via Viber. During the stream, he texted, ‘There are police upstairs; I’m going up.’ That was the last message. He briefly showed the outside scene, and then the live feed was cut. After that, we couldn’t reach him despite multiple calls,” Shrestha said.
Suresh’s last message was sent at 2:24 AM. Though he mentioned seeing the police upstairs, it is unclear whether there were actually police officers or if he was merely speculating.
At the time, Suresh had two mobile phones and a camera. His camera and one mobile phone are missing, while the other mobile phone was found burned and deformed.
“It is unclear whether his camera and phone were burned or looted,” a police source said. “No traces have been found so far.”
Suresh’s body was found on the same floor where he was last seen filming. More than 50% of his body was burned, making facial recognition impossible. His identity was confirmed by a partially burned shoe found near the scene.
His family suspects foul play. They question whether he was killed before the fire started.
One of his relatives said, “During the Twin Towers attack, people jumped from the 80th floor to save themselves. Wouldn’t my brother have jumped from the fourth floor to escape if he had the chance?”
He added, “I believe something happened to Suresh before the fire. Then, he was placed aside, and the evidence was destroyed by fire.”
Initially, it was believed that Suresh was trapped inside the room and burned because he could not escape. A video showed a locked grill door outside the room, reinforcing this theory. However, it was later confirmed that the lock had been placed earlier by a resident and that protesters had broken the glass window to enter, after which Suresh followed them inside.
This means that he could have exited the same way he entered. The house owner, Prem Bahadur Shrestha, also finds this suspicious. He suspects that Suresh might have been unconscious before the fire started.
“As far as I know, the police never entered the house. Only the protesters were inside,” he said. “I can’t say who is responsible at this point.”
Armed Police Force Inspector General Raju Aryal stated that despite multiple visits, the police never found Suresh inside the building.
In a parliamentary committee meeting, he said, “The police reached up to the third floor, but the fourth floor was locked. We did not expect anyone inside. Even downstairs, the air was suffocating. If we had known someone was alive inside, we would have taken the risk to rescue them.”
Initially, rumors spread that Suresh had been shot, causing a delay in his post-mortem examination. The doctors insisted on conducting an X-ray first. The first X-ray was conducted at Teaching Hospital, but the family was dissatisfied with the procedure, claiming they were not allowed to witness it. Due to their objections, a second X-ray was performed before the autopsy.
The post-mortem report concluded that Suresh died due to burns. His body was then handed over to the family for cremation.
Despite this report, Suresh’s family is still waiting for “justice.” They do not fully believe the findings and demand an impartial investigation into the incident.
