The Dhanusha District Police Office took Kailash Sirohiya, chairman of Kantipur Media Group, in custody on Wednesday.

A police team, including Senior Superintendent of Police Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police Rabindra Regmi of Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, had arrested Sirohiya from his office at the Kantipur Publications’ headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu on Tuesday.

He was detained based on a complaint filed by Indrajit Mahato of Sarlahi district at the Dhanusha district police office on April 28. In the complaint, the applicant accused Sirohiya of using multiple citizenships and demanded that the offence be investigated according to the Citizenship Act 2006.

The media fraternity and political leaders have condemned the arrest, calling the move a breach of the constitution and abuse of state power.

Following the issuance of the arrest warrant, Sirohiya expressed his shock at the arbitrary nature of the warrant. “If I am to be arrested based on a single complaint, without even giving me a chance to explain myself, I too would like to lodge a complaint against Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. Can the state arrest him too?” he questioned.

He said there was now not a shred of doubt that the home minister was having him arrested—including by getting someone close to him to lodge a case against Sirohiya in Dhanusha district—just because Kantipur Publications has doggedly pursued the cases of Lamichhane’s involvement in scams related to various cooperatives.

Both on Monday and on Tuesday, the day of Sirohiya’s arrest, Kantipur daily, the Post’s sister publication, had published fresh evidence of illegal transfer of cooperative funds by Lamichhane into the accounts of a private television company.

KMG had extensively reported on Lamichhane’s possession of dual citizenship and passport, which led to his resignation following a Supreme Court conviction. Of late, Kantipur Publications has been consistently reporting on the home minister’s involvement in the embezzlement of cooperative funds.