An investigation into alleged efforts to secure the release of controversial businessman Deepak Bhatta has now brought intermediary Inam Sapkota and senior police officials under scrutiny.

The seizure of mobile devices has become a recurring practice. But when can investigators search their contents and access the private information they contain?

Most of those named in the 445 cases face allegations including murder, arson and looting that cannot be dropped under existing law.

Banshiraj Dahal, whose tenure had been recommended for extension, is accused of visiting former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at a police office without permission.

Officials say the transfer was routine, but a prison department source says concerns over Bhatta’s alleged efforts to influence proceedings from inside Nakkhu may have prompted the move.

Police will step up patrols and surveillance in crowded and sensitive areas, using CCTV cameras, drones and sniffer dogs to prevent theft, robbery and other festival-related crimes.

Rana’s request comes a day after police took him from his Maharajgunj home, citing a security threat, and held him for about 12 hours.

Police say they acted over a ‘security threat’, but have not identified it or explained why a crime investigation team was sent to take the former chief justice from his home.

Police cited a security threat but have yet to explain what prompted them to remove Cholendra Shumsher Rana from his Maharajgunj residence.

The Kaligandaki river flooded the Farse settlement, while a landslide buried a house and a cattle shed in Palpa, leaving one dead and two missing.

Rana was taken from his home at around 3am after police cited a security threat. Hours later, questions remain over whether he was arrested, detained or taken into protective custody.

Authorities say the former chief justice was taken from his Maharajgunj residence after a security threat, but he faces no criminal case and will be released.

A senior police source confirmed that officers arrested Rana at his Maharajgunj residence on Sunday, with further details yet to emerge.

The driver who died of burns was allegedly using driving licences issued in other people’s names.

In just a year, hundreds of Nepalis have been deported after paying millions to reach the US through the so-called ‘donkey route’. Why are so few willing to report those who sent them?