BIRATNAGAR, AUGUST 1

Under-secretary Prem Sanjel, a vocal critic of corruption, was thrashed in his office in Biratnagar today.

Sanjel was beaten up at the Labour and Employment Office, Biratnagar.

Police have arrested Office Assistant Netra Bhattarai and Menuka Sapkota Koirala.

Sanjel has received bruises on his face. Morang SP Santosh Khadka said police had nabbed two office staff and they were investigating the incident.

Sanjel was thrashed with a paper weight, a slipper, a nail cutter, and a punching machine.

Preliminary investigation showed that two employees had entered Sanjel’s office saying they wanted to talk to him and thrashed him for making them work strictly and scolding them.

Sanjel has been in the limelight for the past one-and-a-half years due to his struggle against corruption and bribery.

Sanjel was transferred to the Labour and Employment Office from District Election Office, Morang. Due to pressure from some traders and employees, Sanjel was transferred to Vocational Skill and Training Academy, Itahari, 70 days after his transfer to the labour office. Then, he organised a press meet and made things public.

Sanjel had moved the Supreme Court saying that he was transferred illegally. A single bench of justice Anil Kumar Sinha had scrapped Sanjel’s transfer calling it illegal.

Meanwhile, the arrested female employee admitted that they had manhandled Sanjel.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 2, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.