Journalist Shobhraj Baral also arrested; police reach offices of Naya Patrika and Diyo Post

After arresting Nepal Press journalist Bishwamani Subedi, police on Friday also took journalist Shobhraj Baral into custody from his newsroom. Baral was taken into custody from the office of Motivate News.

A plainclothes police team from the Valley Crime Investigation Office reached the office of Naya Patrika looking for correspondent Nabaraj Mainali. According to Naya Patrika editor Khagendra Pant, police have been sitting in the newsroom, saying they need to take Mainali to the Cyber Bureau. Police who reached the Anamnagar office of Diyo Post dot com have been searching for editor-in-chief Sudip Bishwakarma and editor Rita Budhathoki.

Similarly, Bindu Raj Lamsal, chairman of Nepal E Press — the publishing house of Nepal Press — and editor-in-chief Matrika Poudel have been summoned to the Cyber Bureau. According to Ratopati, this action has been taken against journalists who made public the contact details found on the mobile phone of Inam Sapkota, who was found to have links with former Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher JBR.

The Federation of Nepali Journalists has called taking journalists away from newsrooms 'state terror' and demanded that such action be stopped immediately. The federation's outgoing president, Bipul Pokharel, called the incident a Panchayat-era practice, while former president Mainali, also a senior advocate, said arresting journalists solely for writing news reports is unconstitutional. Gen Z activist Raksha Bam has also criticized RSP chairman Rabi Lamichhane over the incident.