In a recent incident, a former Maoist combatant was arrested by the APF along with war-era weapon from Tokha. Three people arrested during the incident were handcuffed, blind-folded and were taken to their barrack. Later, only one of the arrestees was handed over to the Metropolitan Police Circle in Maharajgunj. Durga Singh Gurung, who was arrested along with the weapon,  told the Post that two other persons arrested with him were nowhere to be seen. “When I asked the APF people, they said the two had escaped,” Gurung said.

Upon investigation, Nepal Police later arrested former Maoist combatant Binod Kattel who had asked Gurung to keep the weapon which

had “CPNM” inscribed in it. It was revealed that the third arrestee was a plain clothed APF official.

Now, the issue over prolonged delay to hand over the arrestee and why Kattel was left to walk away has been of great concern among officials. A police source said the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a probe committee an under-secretary to investigate into the matter.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Uttam Karki, who is also the chief of Metropolitan Police Range in Teku, said the APF should immediately hand over arrestees and not keep them for hours. “There were many police posts nearby but what took them so long to hand over the culprit? Also, Kattel is the main responsible person for the crime but he was not held,” SSP Karki claimed.

Deputy Inspector General Pushpa Ram KC, also the APF spokesperson, claimed that they arrested Gurung based on a tip-off and he was later handed over to police. “I am not sure about the timing of hand over but we have the right to arrest,” he said.

The recently endorsed APF Regulation states that the arrested person should be immediately handed over to the investigating authority. Also, the provision states that the APF will now have the right to issue arrest warrant to suspected persons, which was opposed by human rights defenders. Rights activists claim the riot police is not given authority to make arrests.

In Nepal, the authority to arrest any persons, till date, has been in the hands of Nepal Police only.

Many senior police officials believe that this could be representative of conflict that could arise among security forces after the hazy demarcation of their jurisdiction.