Anish Tamang, Executive Editor of Ujyalo Network.com Online and Durgalal Tamang, General Manager were arrested by the police on April 25, 2021. Central member of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Santaram Bidari informed that the two journalists were arrested for publishing news.
A team from the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, arrested Durgalal from Basundhara and Anish from Ujyalo Network’s office in Anamnagar. They have been kept at the Metropolitan Police Range, Teku.
According to SP Ramesh Basnet of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, they were arrested with the permission of the District Court, Kathmandu. SP Basnet said that those arrested would be investigated for cybercrime and crimes against the state.
A few days ago, the online had published an article about an agreement between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Samant Goyal, the head of the Indian spy agency RAW. After the Nepal Press Council asked for an explanation saying that the material was found to be misleading and factless, the online media admitted the mistake and removed the material and apologized.
The court had issued an interim order not to arrest anyone on the basis of the news while hearing the petition filed in the Patan High Court on April 23, 2021.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has issued a press release on April 25 stating that it has drawn serious attention to the incident.
A statement signed by FNJ Secretary-General Roshan Puri said that the arrest of the journalist was a direct interference not only in democratic law and procedure but also in the constitutional order.