The Nagarik Unmukti Party has served a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to release its lawmaker Arun Chaudhary. Issuing a statement on Thursday, party spokesperson Damodar Pandit condemned the arrest. Reminding that the Tharuhat protesters and the government had signed an agreement on August 19, 2009 to scrap all kinds of cases, the Nagarik Unmukti Party said that Chaudhary has been contesting all the elections since then.

“Chaudhary was not on the run. He has contested local, provincial and federal elections four times since 2009. Why did this issue raised at this moment when he was elected as a federal lawmaker from the Nagarik Unmukti Party?” Pandit questioned.

Saying that the arrest of Chaudhary is a discrimination against the Tharu Community, the party has demanded his release within 24 hours. Chaudhary was arrested from Tikapur, Kailali on Thursday. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Kailali-2. Chaudhary, who was on the fugitive list of the police, was arrested this afternoon.