A Nepali Congress (NC) leader has been arrested in Chitwan district for writing a “defamatory post” against Nepal Communist Party Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Facebook.

The District Police Office (DPO) arrested Subod Pradhan, the former central member of Nepal Tarun Dal, the NC’s youth wing, on Sunday for allegedly posting an ‘offensive remark’ against Dahal.

According to Tarun Dal Chitwan President Ram Shrestha, Pradhan was arrested on Sunday morning and has been detained at the Bharatpur DPO for interrogation.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Sushil Singh Rathore said that Pradhan was arrested based on the complaint regarding his Facebook post. The post Pradhan wrote three days ago has been deleted from the social media site.

Pradhan is a Mahasamiti member of the NC and General Secretary of the party-close Democratic Sports Forum.

“We have detained Pradhan for interrogation after a complaint was registered against him. No serious charge has been filed so far. We haven’t decided the next step yet,” said SP Rathore.

In a similar incident, police had arrested NC-affiliated Nepal Student Union leader from Kavre in November for posting a distorted image of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on social media.