During the free-for-all that followed, swords and knives were used on all sides. Through some scheme that has never been explained adequately, the only leader with organized bodies of troops in the kot area was Jang Bahadur, whose troops suppressed the fighting, killing many of his opponents in the process. When the struggle subsided, the courtyard was strewn with the bodies of dozens of leading nobles and an unknown number of their followers The Pande and Thapa families in particular were devastated during this slaughter. That followed a seek and destroy approach taken by Jung Bahadur Rana against all nobles in the royal house and other in the country, that included many ethnic leaders as well.