The National Human Rights Commission has summoned Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Khadka, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office in Teku, for questioning over the detention of former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana.

The commission wrote to Khadka on Monday after its team was denied access to Rana when it went to the office on Sunday to meet him in custody.

Murari Kharel, secretary of the commission, said it had summoned Khadka to seek an explanation over concerns about human rights violations and compliance with the constitution, including why the commission’s monitoring team was denied access to Rana.

The commission’s team had gone to the Crime Investigation Office to monitor Rana’s detention after reports emerged that he had been taken to the office without an arrest warrant.

The team was kept waiting at the gate for about 45 minutes and was not allowed to meet Rana, prompting the commission to object to the police action.

“Khadka has been asked to appear before the commission on Tuesday,” Kharel said. “He will be asked why the commission’s team was not allowed to monitor the detention.”

He said the commission had also begun an investigation into the incident.

On Sunday, a three-member commission team, including commissioner Manoj Duwadi, went to the Crime Investigation Office to meet Rana.

A Crime Investigation Office team had taken Rana from his home in Maharajgunj on Sunday morning, citing a security threat. The police team arrived at his residence around midnight and brought him to Teku at around 3am.

The commission began its investigation amid widespread criticism that the incident violated human rights and the constitutional right to live with dignity.