Former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana has sought increased police protection for himself and his family, citing security concerns.

A written request signed by his son, Sachindra Shumsher Rana, was registered at the Kathmandu Valley Police Office in Ranipokhari on Monday.

Deputy Inspector General Govinda Thapaliya, head of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office, confirmed to Kantipur that the request had been received. “He is currently under police watch at his residence,” Thapaliya said.

In the request, Rana said he felt a serious threat to the safety of himself and his family given the country’s current situation and security-related questions raised on social media and in the media.

“I have also felt increasingly unsafe because of the responsibilities I previously held in state institutions and the judicial decisions I made as the head of the country’s judiciary,” the request said. “I learned about some matters only after arriving at this office in recent days. I am therefore submitting this request seeking additional security.”

Rana said the state’s security agencies already had his complete details and asked that they ensure the safety of his residence, family and himself.

Rana was taken from his home in Maharajgunj shortly after midnight on Sunday by a team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office. Police told him he faced a security threat but did not show his family an arrest warrant or specify any offence. He was kept at the crime investigation office for about 12 hours before being released to his family at around 2pm, with police later saying he had been taken there only for his protection.

The police have not identified the alleged threat, said when they first learned of it, or explained why a crime investigation unit was used in what they describe as a security operation. They have also not clarified who authorised the deployment or under what legal authority Rana was removed from his home and kept at the police office. A senior police source said pressure to take Rana into custody began on Saturday evening after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his political adviser Kumar Ben returned from the United States.

The incident has drawn questions because Rana was already under round-the-clock security as a former chief justice. Former police officials and former chief justices have said that if there was a genuine security threat, the usual response would have been to strengthen protection at his residence rather than take him elsewhere. The National Human Rights Commission also sought to meet Rana at the police office but was initially denied access.

Rana, the 29th chief justice, served from January 2019 and was suspended after an impeachment motion was registered against him in February 2022. He retired in December 2022 while the impeachment process remained unresolved. Earlier this month, a Constitutional Bench led by Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma dismissed four writ petitions related to the impeachment.