Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, April 1:

The Supreme Court today ordered the government authorities including Home Ministry, Police Headquarters and Kathmandu District Administration Office to release the students leaders arrested sometime ago while they were agitating against the February 1 Royal takeover.

Kishor Singh Rathour and several other student leaders.

A division bench of justices Khil Raj Regmi and Bala Ram KC issued the order following the hearing. The bench also ordered the authorities to release Bibek Sunuwar, Dipak BK and Arjun BK. Rathour is president of Nepali Congress (Democratic)-affiliated Nepal Student Union. The student leaders were put in preventive detention on charges of threat to peace and security if they remained free.

The authorities had a served 90-day preventive detention notice on Rathour as per the Peace and Security Act 1989 and also served preventive detention notice for the next 90 days under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance of 2004.