Nepali Congress leaders have alleged that plainclothes police officers have been keeping watch on party president Gagan Thapa’s residence and his office in Gyaneshwar. They suspect the increased surveillance may be linked to rumours that the government is preparing to arrest him.

Congress General Secretary Udaya Shumsher Rana said there were not only rumours but also information suggesting that Thapa could be arrested. He speculated that one reason for removing Dan Bahadur Karki as inspector general of police may have been his refusal to arrest the Congress chief.

Accusing the government of trying to silence voices of dissent, from the press to the political opposition, Rana said the party would not be intimidated.

“First, they entered media houses and arrested journalists to silence the press. They created an atmosphere of fear among media organisations. Now, the government appears intent on arresting our party president to silence the opposition, as if to say that he is the only one left to speak out. We believe the government is heading down a self-destructive path,” Rana told Kantipur.

Kantipur separately spoke to three people close to Thapa. All three said they had also heard about the possibility of his arrest and were making further inquiries. They said plainclothes police officers had been monitoring Thapa’s residence and key locations where he meets party leaders and cadres over the past two days.

One of the leaders said the surveillance had heightened fears that he could be arrested.

Against this backdrop, the party’s office-bearers are scheduled to hold another informal meeting in Sanepa on Thursday, following a similar gathering on Wednesday. The party’s Policy Institute, headed by senior vice-president Bishwa Prakash Sharma, also met ahead of the gathering.

A joint general secretary said the meeting would discuss reports of a possible arrest, allegations that have surfaced against the party leadership and what Congress leaders describe as the government’s increasingly authoritarian course.

Asked whether the government was preparing to arrest Thapa, a member of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said, on condition of anonymity, that they had no information about any such plan. “Not everything necessarily comes to the Prime Minister’s Office. We have no information about this matter either. It would be better to check with the police,” the official said.

Police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle also said he had no information about any plan to arrest the Congress president. “We have no information on this matter and have no comment to make,” he said.

Asked whether plainclothes officers had been deployed around Thapa’s residence and office, Kafle said he did not know where the information had come from and reiterated that the police did not know about such activity.

Congress General Secretary Pradip Paudel said the government was deliberately spreading rumours and using calculated tactics to discredit the party leadership and create fear among the public.

At an informal meeting on Wednesday, the party’s office-bearers also decided to mount both political and legal opposition to what they called a coordinated campaign to tarnish the leadership’s reputation through the release of an audio recording.

Since the party convention, Thapa has repeatedly questioned the government’s conduct. Speaking at the party’s central office in Sanepa on Sunday, he accused the government of moving towards authoritarianism and pledged a strong response.

He had raised concerns over police entering media houses and arresting journalists, as well as reports that officials involved in the Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project had been detained and pressured to cancel a contract. Thapa accused the government of seeking to deploy state officials and security agencies to serve political interests.

On Monday, an audio recording surfaced, purportedly containing a statement given to police by Inam Sapkota, who has been accused of acting as an intermediary between the judiciary and senior government officials. The recording includes claims that Rs180 million had changed hands to secure recognition of the Thapa-led faction as the legitimate Nepali Congress.

It also contains conversations suggesting that money had been negotiated to influence the Election Commission and Supreme Court justices, with former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana allegedly arranging the payments.

However, the circumstances in which the audio was recorded remain unclear, and it has not been established whether it is an authentic recording of an official police statement.

After the recording surfaced, Thapa took to Facebook at 6pm on Monday with a pointed response: “It’s 6pm sharp. They can try to intimidate me, but they won’t succeed.”

His remark appeared to refer to the Rs180 million allegedly mentioned in the recording.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, senior vice-president Sharma said the recording was an attempt to discredit the Election Commission, the courts and the party’s representatives by portraying decisions taken through due process as the result of financial transactions.

The Election Commission had recognised the special convention held by the Thapa-led faction in early 2026 under the party statute, and the Supreme Court had upheld its legitimacy, Sharma said. He accused those behind the audio campaign of trying to undermine the reputation of the court, the Election Commission and Congress representatives by linking the decisions to alleged financial dealings.

Sharma said the party had assigned vice-president Pushpa Bhusal to pursue legal remedies.

General Secretary Paudel, meanwhile, called for an impartial investigation into allegations involving the prime minister and senior government officials that have surfaced in the Sapkota case. He said allegations that unauthorised individuals had seized mobile phones, destroyed evidence and conducted communications at the involvement and direction of the prime minister’s chief adviser warranted an independent and impartial investigation.