Plain-clothes police entered the Nepal Press newsroom in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, on Friday and detained journalist Bishwamani Subedi without showing an arrest warrant, according to the publication’s editors. Nepal Press editor Chiranjivi Poudel and chief editor Matrika Poudel said Subedi was taken away by the Cyber Bureau over a news source. Journalist Shobharaj Baral of Motivate News was also detained, while police visited the offices of Naya Patrika and Deyopost in search of journalist Nabaraj Mainali. CPN (UML) chief whip Yubaraj Dulal condemned the arrests and demanded the journalists’ unconditional release.
Subedi detained inside the newsroom
The incident took place at the Nepal Press office in New Baneshwor, a neighbourhood in Kathmandu. The editors said police officers in plain clothes entered the newsroom and took Subedi away. They said the officers did not show an arrest warrant before detaining him. Their account was reported by Ratopati, Khabarhub and Nagarik News.
Poudel and Matrika Poudel said Subedi was taken by the Cyber Bureau in connection with a news source. The editors’ account identifies the subject of the police action in those terms, but does not provide further details about the source, the news report involved or the specific legal grounds for the detention. No additional information about Subedi’s whereabouts or the status of any investigation was included in the reports provided.
The reported absence of a warrant was central to the editors’ description of how the detention unfolded. Their account places the arrest inside the newsroom, rather than at a police office or another location, and says the officers arrived in plain clothes. The reports do not describe an exchange between Subedi and the officers or say whether he was given a written notice at the time he was taken away.
Other journalist detained, offices visited
The police action was not limited to the Nepal Press newsroom. Shobharaj Baral, a journalist with Motivate News, was also detained, according to the summary of the reports. The circumstances of Baral’s detention, including where he was picked up and the reason given to him, were not specified in the information available.
Police also visited the offices of Naya Patrika and Deyopost while searching for journalist Nabaraj Mainali. The reports do not say whether officers found Mainali or whether he was detained. Taken together, the reported detention of two journalists and visits to two other media offices indicate that the police activity involved more than one newsroom, though the available accounts do not set out a full timeline or explain how the separate actions were connected.
Political response
CPN (UML) chief whip Yubaraj Dulal condemned the arrests and called for the journalists to be released unconditionally. His demand was a response to the detentions, including Subedi’s arrest at the Nepal Press office. The information provided does not include a statement from police addressing Dulal’s call, the warrant issue or the editors’ account that the Cyber Bureau took Subedi over a news source.
The available reports leave key questions unanswered, including the specific basis for Subedi’s detention, the status of Baral and whether police located Mainali. The editors’ account establishes that Subedi was taken from the newsroom without a warrant being shown, while Dulal’s reaction makes his release the immediate public demand described in the reports. Further details about the police action and the journalists’ status were not included in the information available.
