Kathmandu, February 19:

Rajendra Pandey, UML central committee member today condemned the government for not releasing party general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal even after the expiry of one month of his house arrest.

Pandey said according to law, no person can be placed under house arrest for more than a month.

Nepal was placed under house arrest on January 19, one day before the seven-party alliance’s planned rally in the capital.

UML’s another standing committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari has also been placed under house arrest from the past one month.

Meanwhile, today condolence meetings were held across the nation in memory of CPN-UML cadre Umesh Chandra Thapa who was shot dead by security forces in Dang during municipal elections on February 8.

UML central committee member Rajendra Pandey said that a special condolence meeting would be held tomorrow in Dang. Party’s standing committee member Modnath Prashrit is scheduled to address the meeting.

Pandey also said that a meeting of the seven-party alliance’s taskforce would announce new protest programmes against autocracy by tomorrow evening.