KATHMANDU, APRIL 30
In a dramatic development today, Resham Chaudhary, the Nagarik Unmukti Party (NUP) patron, was suddenly arrested in the afternoon and released in the evening after almost five hours.
He was arrested on Wednesday at Nepal Academy in Kamaladi, just as a unity programme between the NUP and the Janamat Party was about to begin.
The most anticipated event of both parties has been postponed due to the sudden arrest and release of NUP patron Chaudhary.
Immediately following his arrest, it was revealed that he had been arrested on the basis of an unauthorised Supreme Court letter, leading the apex court to write another letter to have him released.
This caused a stir in the Supreme Court throughout the day.
Later, it was revealed that Mahiman Singh Bista, a section officer in the division, had sent the letter with an unauthorised signature.
According to Achyut Kuinkel, the Supreme Court spokesperson, Bista had sent the unauthorised letter.
Supreme Court spokesperson Kuinkel issued a statement informing that legal action had been taken against the officer who wrote the letter without authority.
"The letter written by this court's section officer today (April 30) to the Prison Office in Dillibazar, Kathmandu, is unauthorised. A letter has been sent to the relevant body requesting that the letter not be implemented, and legal action has been initiated against the officer who wrote the letter in an unauthorised manner," the statement read.
Chaudhary, a former legislator, was convicted in 2017 of orchestrating the Tikapur massacre. The Tikapur massacre killed eight people, including a two-year-old toddler and Senior Superintendent of Police Laxman Neupane, on August 24, 2015. He was released in May 2023, having served five years in prison. On Republic Day (2023), President Ramchandra Paudel pardoned Resham Chaudhary's remaining jail term.
Following Chaudhary's release, Sharada Kadayat Bohora, the wife of police inspector Keshav Bohara, who was killed in the clash between the people and the police, filed a writ petition challenging the president's pardon.
Meanwhile, a massive uproar has erupted following Chaudhary's arbitrary arrest today, which coincided with the merger of two political parties. Both parties have supported the current ruling coalition led by CPN-UML. The Janamat Party, led by Dr C.K. Raut has six seats in the Lower House, while the NUP has four. Both parties had planned to merge today.
Janamat Party President CK Raut has termed that Chaudhary's arrest in the midst of party unification was a 'conspiracy.'
"We see this as a plot to shatter our unity. This is a way to break the two parties that are about to merge to form a new one," Raut said after Chaudhary's release. "This is not a simple error. The employee was simply made a pawn. This has come from the very top."
He further said, "Even if arrest was necessary, it could have been done earlier or later, so why did it happen on merger day? This is entirely motivated and undemocratic. We will not be discouraged; we will complete the merger by hook or crook to end the injustice and oppression of indigenous, Dalits, Madhesis, and Muslims."
Party leaders from both parties also reiterated following Chaudhary's release that they would soon merge both parties.
