Kathmandu, July 2:

Advertising Association of Nepal (AAN) will not give advertisements anymore to the newspaper that caused the arrest of AAN member Dinesh Kumar Lamsal last evening. Lamsal was arrested for allegedly not clearing his dues to the newspaper.

“We will stage more protest programmes if he is not released immediately,” said Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, vice-president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and AAN ex-president.

“We strongly protest the arrest of Lamsal of Evergreen Advertising Media,” Nirmal Poudyal, AAN president said, adding that the arrest was made because of his dispute with a vernacular daily over financial transaction.

“The intention behind the arrest was to malign the relationship between the media and

advertising agencies,” alleged Rajkarnikar.

Though the media has seen a quantitative growth in recent days, the advertising sector’s growth is not encouraging. “Despite the growth in media industry, advertising sector is passing through a critical phase as the market is shrinking,” he said, adding that unlike in the past when it used to post a 40 per cent growth it has registered almost zero growth now.