काठमाडौंमा बस चालकको मृत्यु, आफैंले गाडीमा आगो लगाएको प्रहरीको भनाइ Kathmandu bus driver dies after setting vehicle on fire, police say

A video clip of the argument circulated on social media captures the driver saying, "I am ready to die, but I will not pay the fine." The video appears to show traffic police attempting to issue him a fine for allegedly violating traffic rules, while the driver insists he had not committed any offence and refuses to pay.

The transport organisations said traffic police stopped the bus and asked for its documents, leading to a dispute over a possible fine. They said more traffic police arrived and took the bus to the area in front of the Department of Passports, where passengers were asked to get off and were kept there for around two hours. The organisations said the driver refused to go to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office in Baggikhana, saying he had done nothing wrong and had been subjected to mental pressure and harassment, before closing the bus doors and setting himself on fire. No account of the dispute from the traffic police, and no response to those allegations, has been reported.

Transport federations and workers' organisations have launched protests demanding an impartial judicial investigation into the driver's death, and the joint statement of the transport federations and workers' organisations said six of those federations and organisations have formed a joint struggle committee to establish the facts, secure appropriate compensation for the driver's family and ensure occupational safety for transport workers. They said the investigation should not be limited to the issue of a routine traffic violation but should also examine the conduct and working practices of the regulatory authorities involved in the dispute. "If a traffic rule was violated, it can be subject to legal action, but legal action and mistreatment that drives a worker to death are not the same thing," the organisations said in their joint statement. Gen Z movement leader Rabi Kiran Hamal demanded an impartial investigation and, recalling the earlier case of Ganesh Nepali at the same location, said the recurrence of such an incident should serve as a significant warning to the state.