Rani Vibas, editor at Naya Bikalpa daily and its online edition was detained for two hours in Kanchanpur on June 20, 2022, for covering an ablaze on a tanker carrying coal tar in Mahendranagar.
The victim said, “I approached a police officer at the site to ask whether they prepared any incident report, a police inspector Lokendra SinghThagunna ordered his subordinates to arrest me and immediately the officials pushed me into their van and took me for the medical examination at 10:00 pm. After the examination, they handed me a charge sheet with an offence against public order and held me for two hours at the ward police station.”
Vibas was released after two hours. On June 21, Vibas along with fellow journalists submitted a memorandum to the Superintendent of Police Shyam Singh Chaudhary demanding action against Inspector Thagunna.
SP Chaudhary apologized for the misconduct of his office and assured that such incident will not be repeated in future and that he will also take action against Thagunna, according to the editor.