KATHMANDU, Jan 26: Unidentified gunmen shot dead the Inspector General of the Armed Police Force Krishna Mohan Shrestha, his wife and a guard early on Sunday, officials said.

According to official sources, Shrestha was shot dead while on a morning walk at around 7.00AM on Sunday morning in Lalitpur, a town adjoining the Nepalese capital.

The assailant also shot dead his wife and a body guard who were walking along with him.

People living near the area said they had heard at least eight rounds of gunshot.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack but initial suspicion falls on the Maoists who have stepped up their violence in recent days ahead of the completion of seven years of their insurgency.

He was the first chief of the Armed Police Force (APF) formed by the government less than two years ago to combat the Maoist violence.

Most of the officers and men and women of the APF were recruited from among the regular civilian police force.

Krishna Mohan Shrestha was an Additional Inspector General of Police in the regular police force before he took over as the Inspector General of the APF.

The Maoists bombed, torched and totally destroyed Krishna Mohan Shrestha’s home in Sankhuwasabha district, about 225 kilometres east of the capital, about a year ago.

About 7400 people have been killed in the violent Maoist insurgency aimed at setting up a communist republic in Nepal.

—dpa