KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 8

Nepal Police has started arresting cadres of fringe communist parties and other political parties, mostly communist groups, for their involvement in various activities aimed at disrupting the upcoming November 20 federal and provincial elections.

Nepal Police headquarters informed that they had so far held more than 60 cadres of political parties that openly declared they would boycott and disrupt the elections. Among the arrested, a case has been filed against five people for possessing arms and ammunition, while others were arrested on the charge of disrupting social peace.

Those arrested were visiting people's houses and threatening them not to participate in the upcoming elections. While some of them were preparing plans to create terror by placing IEDs at various places, said police.

The people accused of carrying arms and ammunition are cadres of Nepal Communist Party-Maoist led by Amrit Sapkota.

Similarly, cadres of fringe parties such as the CPN led by Netra Bikram Chand, CPN led by Rishi Kattel and the Scientific Socialist Communist Party led by Vishwabhakt Dulal that publicly declared they would boycott and disrupt the elections have also been arrested, many of whom were released on the condition that they would discontinue such activities.

'We must acknowledge that these arrests are not of serious concern as we normally arrest people for carrying arms and ammunition and those disrupting social peace. So, we are confident that election will be conducted in a peaceful manner,' said Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Tek Prasad Rai.

The government has implemented a special 'integrated security plan' to prevent any untoward incident during the upcoming election. The integrated security plan includes all four security agencies - Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and National Investigation Department. Security officials of these agencies are mobilised in plainclothes as well as in uniform to bolster security measures.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Nepal Police,Dhiraj Pratap Singh today directed all the police officials to be on standby to tackle any kind of challenge that surface during the upcoming elections.

IGP Singh directed the chiefs of Province Police, Province Training Centre, District Police, and battalions last evening, boosting the morale of subordinates.

He applauded efforts to create conducive environment for elections. He also said told them to make sure that information flow remained smooth across the country during elections.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 9, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.