On 15 August 2019, police fired several rounds of tear gas shells in Bharatpur at supporters of TV talk show host Rabi Lamichhane who had been detained over the suicide of a colleague.
The crowd trying to encircle the Chitwan District Administration Office was dispersed, but some of the shells used were found to be nine years old.
Police did not respond to a Right to Information application from the Centre for Investigative Journalism seeking details about its stockpile of tear gas shells past their expiry date.
This was not the first time dangerously dated shells were being used. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had reported that police have used old tear gas at protesters in Saptari, Biratnagar and Surkhet during the Madhes protests in 2016.
“We conducted a forensic test to confirm the use of date expired tear gas shells,” says NHRC member Mohna Ansari, “then IGP Prakash Aryal was instructed to inquire about the use of date expired tear gas shells and destroy them.”
The most commonly used chemicals in tear gas canisters like bromoacetone or xylyl bromide cause temporary irritation of the mucous membrane in the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. But with prolonged storage these chemicals can break down into highly toxic phosgenes and cyanide oxide. Older canisters can also have faulty fuses, or become so ineffective that police will be forced to use more lethal force for crowd control.
Nepal Police procures a new batch of tear gas shells every year, and plans to buy 5,000 more canisters this year – 1,000 less than last year. But there is a huge stockpile of over 100,000 shells imported ten years ago during protests over the new constitution that have now passed their expiry date.
When police superintendent Pushkar Karki was transferred to Kaski in 2010, protests over the constitution were beginning to escalate, and he wanted to stake stock of the quantity of tear gas in the storeroom.
“I found all 200 tear gas shells were expired,” recalls Karki, who is now AIGP. “I immediately requested headquarters and replaced them with new ones.”
Police sources say it is difficult to estimate how many tear gas shells are needed in any given year, and this means there is a stock of old canisters in police stations around the country.
Nepal Police spokesperson Shailesh Thapa declined to disclose how big the stockpile is or how many are expired, saying it is not easy to calculate how many are left since they are also used in training. “We do not get a real time update from around the country,” he adds. “We destroy the ones that are past their expiry date.”
However retired police officers admit they have regularly used old tear gas shells in riot control. Former DIG Hemant Malla recalls: “Most tear gas shells used to be expired, and because of this they did not work properly when fired.”
Standard operating procedure of Nepal Police requires officers to use batons for crowd control before resorting to tear gas. After that, the law allows them to use rubber bullets and then shoot below the knee in self-defence.
Nepal Police is using six types of tear gas shells: 38 CM, gas grenade smoke, simple gas grenade, dual fire shell, long range guns mounted on riot-vehicles. The shells are of two types — CS and CN depending on their chemical composition. CN gas is actually considered to be a chemical weapon and has been banned by international treaty since 1993.
Although Nepal is a signatory to that treaty, it is still using CN canisters and even those are past their expiry date which could be even more lethal.
Former DIG Malla believes police is forced to use expired shells because of procurement issues, and the budget never being enough even for basic needs like uniforms. “They have to manage with what they get,” he says.
Serving police officers, however, say that protests are getting more violent and they have to use tear gas for crowd control. Unlike in the past, protesters do not disperse when warnings are issued or after baton charges. However, they admit the frequency of protests have gone down in the past two years. This means there is a large stockpile of unused tear gas shells.
“We cannot buy new ones unless we exhaust our old stock,” one senior police source says on condition of anonymity, “If there is a protest now, we will be using tear gas and in all likelihood they will be old canisters. I have never seen expired shells being replaced with new ones.”
According to the Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, most tear gas is as serious health hazard. The toxic aerosol can cause serious skin ailments, vomiting and serious ear, nose and throat problems, including permanent blindness or even death.
Setu BK of Nepalganj died in 2006 during pro-democracy protests after police fired tear gas at demonstrators. She was being rushed to a hospital in Lucknow, but died on the way.
“Tear gas temporarily inactivates our nerves and seriously affects eyes and lungs or may cause death if the body is weak,” says Rameshwor Adhikari, a professor at Tribhuvan University’s Department of Chemistry. “It is a chemical weapon.”
He adds that tear gas can become even more dangerous if it is expired since the chemicals in it become totally different from what they were previously. Also, tear gas may lose its effectiveness after long storage, and this could be even more dangerous because police would be forced to fire into crowds when they fail to disperse.
In 2006, in a decision on a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding that use of tear gas be banned. The court directed the government to form an expert panel to study the matter.
The court decision read: ‘What are other alternatives to tear gas? Can local administration use other methods?’ The order was never implemented.
Center for Investigative Journalism Nepal
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“I lost my voice”
On 18 April, 2006, as pro-democracy protests spread across the country, Najbul Khan joined the demonstrations in Gaighat of Udaypur. Police fired tear gas to control the crowd, and Khan lost consciousness for five hours. When she came to, she could not speak properly.
Doctors said her vocal chord had been damaged by the chemicals in the tear gas shell. She tried to have it treated in Kathmandu and New Delhi, but doctors said her voice box was permanently damaged.
“I couldn’t breathe when tear gas entered my throat, and I fainted,” Khan recalls. “When I regained consciousness, I had lost my voice.”
As an activist, Khan was an orator, used to giving rousing speeches and did not even need a loudspeaker. She says: “Now people can hardly hear me.”
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