Journalist arrests: Press Council demands release, PM's secretariat denies involvement

Press Council Nepal has raised serious objection after plain-clothes police entered the newsrooms of several media outlets and took journalists into custody. According to the council, which held an emergency meeting on Friday, no clear reason for the arrests has been disclosed, no arrest warrant was shown, and there is no indication that court permission was obtained. The council has therefore demanded that the legal basis for the arrests be made public and that journalists held without legal grounds be released.

Meanwhile, a team from the Valley Crime Investigation Office has also arrested DNA Khabar editor-in-chief Dhiraj Basnet. According to Setopati, three journalists were arrested in a single day, and three more are being sought. Nepal Press chairperson Lamsal and editor-in-chief Poudel have gone to the Cyber Bureau after police called them by phone. According to Ratopati, the crackdown began after it became public that middleman Enam Sapkota was linked to high-profile individuals.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah's secretariat has stated that neither the prime minister, the secretariat, nor the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers had any involvement in this development, adding that they themselves had no information about it. Home Ministry spokesperson Anand Kafle said he could not claim to have no information but that more needed to be ascertained.

The Federation of Nepali Journalists, the Nepal Bar Association, and leaders of CPN-UML, the Nepal Communist Party and the Nepali Congress have also protested the incident. Jagadish Khadka, spokesperson for the ruling RSP, said arresting journalists solely for writing news reports goes against the party's policy and the constitution, and that the party would seek answers from police on the matter.