NEPAL’S EX-KING GYANENDRA, QUEEN KOMAL TEST +VE AFTER KUMBH MELA VISIT

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s former king Gyanendra Shah and former Queen Komal Shah have tested positive for the coronavirus on their return from India after participating in the popular Hindu festival, the Kumbh Mela, in Haridwar, according to a media report on Tuesday.

The 73-year-old former king and the 70-year-old former queen recently returned from India where they had taken a holy dip at Haridwar’s Har Ki Pauri during the congregation of seers and devotees, the health ministry said.

Their samples for the test were confirmed positive for Covid-19, The Himalayan Times reported. According to the report, hundreds of people had gathered at the airport in Kathmandu to welcome the former king and queen during their arrival back home.

Shah was crowned as the king of Nepal in 2001 after his elder brother Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his family were killed in a massacre at the royal palace. An investigation blamed Birendra’s son Dipendra, who was among the dead, for the massacre. Shah stepped down in 2008 after a popular revolt, turning the country into a republic by the constituent assembly.