Nepali ex-crown prince Dipendrahad three reasons for killing his father, King Birendra: a thwarted multi-million dollar arms deal, forbidden love and end to absolute monarchy in 1990, local news website eKantipur quoted ex-crown prince Paras in his interview with a Singapore-based media.

"Nepal Army was looking for a new weapon to replace the Belgian SLR. Dipendra liked the German Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle, as opposed to the battle-tested Colt M16," said Paras, in his first interview given to The New Paper on Sunday published from Singapore. The ex-princess has been living in Singapore since July2008 after monarchy was abolished in May.

"But His Majesty did not agree. I know that they argued over it. Dipendra was frustrated. He wasn't happy. He told me," the paper quoted Paras as saying.

"The German assault rifle had been short-listed by the army, which was in the market for 50,000 new guns. According to Paras, his cousin's advisers had been working on the deal, which could have brought the crown prince a windfall," said Paras.

"That, to me, was the real trigger. The deal would have probably been for about 50,000 rifles, which at 300 U.S. dollars apiece, would work out to about 15 million U.S. dollars," Paras told the English language tabloid.

Paras's interview, according to the daily, was a reaction to Prime Minister and chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) Prachanda's recent statement that the government would reopen the investigation into the Royal Palace Massacre on the night of June 1, 2001.

Paras said Dipendra needed the money since he was already making plans for the possibility that he would have to leave the country suddenly if things didn't work out for him. "I think this was his back-up plan. The palace was a hotbed of contending interests," said Paras.

In 1990, King Birendra promulgated the new constitution and ended almost 30 years of absolute monarchy.

Paras said, "Dipendra was never the same after his father told him in 1990 about plans to give up monarchy. He never agreed with that as he wanted to rule the country. I think he started planning his moves then."

The second reason was his love for Devyani Rana. The royal family did not want Dipendra to marry her as she was from a rival family.

Paras dismissed the notion that his cousin had shot the family on impulse after drinking heavily that night. "He had talked to us (the younger generation of Nepali royalty) about it a year before it happened," revealed Paras.

"I remember it clearly. It was his birthday in 2000 and he told all of us that he would bring down the 'ivory tower'. But we didn't take him seriously. How could we?" he said.

"This was the crown prince talking. He was going to be our king. And who would believe that he would kill his own father?" And once he got there, Paras noticed that his cousin was behaving abnormally, acting as though he was drunk when he clearly was not.

"I know him and I know when he has had too much to drink. He said he had been drinking since afternoon, but there was no smell of alcohol on him," Paras said.

Paras was the son of the former king Gyanendra who succeeded the crown after Dipendra's suicide following the massacre.

Nepal was declared a federal democratic republic on May 28, 2008 at the first meeting of the elected Constituent Assembly.

Source:Xinhua