Police have detained Kailash Sirohiya, chairperson of Kantipur Media Group (KMG) in connection to an alleged fake citizenship case filed against him in Dhanusha district.
A team led by SSP Sanuram Bhattarai of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Division took Sirohiya under custody from the Kantipur headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu, on Tuesday.
Sirohiya’s arrest follows a series of news stories about Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in misappropriating cooperative funds. Lamichhane has repeatedly discredited the media for publishing news critical of him
Prior to his arrest, Sirohiya issued a statement on Kantipur TV, saying that the arrest warrant against him was issued with the aim of blackmailing Kantipur daily and its other sister news outlets into stopping the coverage of cooperative frauds.
“The media must demand justice and a fair investigation into the embezzlement of the hard-earned savings of over 7.1m depositors in various cooperatives,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the complaint and arrest warrant against me intend to silence Kantipur and divert attention.”
Sirohiya vowed that Kantipur would not relent in exposing societal wrongdoings, including the cooperatives scam. “Those who misuse their authority to retaliate against a media house for its reporting must answer for their actions,” he said, referring to Home Minister Lamichhane.
Journalists have decried Sirohiya’s arrest from his office as an attack on the press.
President of Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Bipul Pokharel, senior journalist Yuvraj Ghimire, FNJ Vice-president Ramesh Bista, and Nepal Press Union President Shiva Lamsal condemned the police action, calling it a mockery of democracy.
Several Nepali Congress MPs, including Ramhari Khatiwada and former Foreign Minister NP Saud, visited the Kantipur headquarters to show support. They denounced the arrest warrant as an assault on press freedom and democracy.
In a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Deputy General Secretary of Nepali Congress Badri Pandey accused Home Minister Lamichhane of issuing the warrant for personal reasons.
Freedom Forum, a media rights advocacy group, expressed concern over the incident.
“The arrest warrant against media entrepreneur Sirohiya appears to be influenced by the home minister. Regardless of the citizenship investigation, the media’s right to report freely and expose irregularities should not face harassment,” said Taranath Dahal, executive chief of the forum.
