Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international organisation focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information, demanded the release of Kantipur Media Group Chairman Kailash Sirohiya on Thursday.

Listing Sirohiya under its detained media personnel list, the RSF said that Sirohiya must be released and the work of KMG must be protected.

“KMG President Kailash Sirohiya has been detained for 2 days in reprisal for an investigation into the involvement of the Ministry of the Interior in a case of fraud & embezzlement,” the organisation said on its social media account.

“He must be released and the work of the KMG protected, not hindered!”

On Tuesday, Sirohiya was arrested from his office at the KMG headquarters in Thapathali, Kathmandu. The police subsequently took him to Dhanusha, where a complaint was filed against him.

The Dhanusha District Court on Wednesday remanded him for three days in custody.

Sirohiya’s arrest has been met with widespread condemnation from the media fraternity and political leaders.

Earlier on Thursday, another global organisation of journalists the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said that Sirohiya’s arrest “is deeply concerning, especially considering the ongoing investigative work focused on allegations of misconduct by the home minister.”