The Kathmandu District Court has granted police permission to keep journalist Kishor Shrestha in custody for three days.
A bench of Judge Umesh Prasad Luitel issued the three-day detention order on Thursday, according to Kathmandu District Court spokesperson Shiva Khatriwada.
Police obtained the court’s permission to investigate Shrestha for offenses related to personal privacy.
Shrestha, who is also the chairman of Aastha Prakashan Pvt Ltd and editor of Jana Aastha Weekly, was arrested from Nakhu on Wednesday night.
Following his arrest, the Federation of Nepali Journalists staged a protest outside the District Police Range, Kathmandu, from early Thursday morning.
Senior advocate Tikaram Bhattarai had visited the police office to provide legal counsel to Shrestha, but he was sent back without letting him meet Shrestha.
When asked about the matter, Senior Superintendent of Police Dilip Ghimire of the District Police Range said that the meeting was not immediately allowed because of regular visiting hours and administrative work.
According to SSP Ghimire, regular visiting hours have been designated at the police office from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. However, he said, the number of people who wanted to meet Shrestha on Thursday had become so large that allowing everyone to meet him would have disrupted the police office’s regular work.
“A lot of people came to meet him today. If we allowed everyone to meet him, it would have affected our work,” Ghimire said.
According to him, police also have to carry out administrative tasks in the afternoon, including presenting arrested individuals before the court and preparing documents required to seek extensions of detention, which was why visits were restricted.
Regarding the lawyer being denied access at the police office, Ghimire said that the lawyer could meet Shrestha at the court. If that is not possible, he could meet him after Shrestha is brought back to the police office following the detention extension, he added.
Meanwhile, SSP Ghimire said that police collected six CPUs from the office of Jana Aastha Weekly in Thado Dhunga, Lalitpur, and two laptops from Shrestha’s home early Thursday morning.
“We brought six CPUs from the office and two laptops from his home,” he said.
According to Ghimire, the electronic devices were seized by police as part of the investigation.
Asked whether it was necessary to seize so many devices, he said, “He did not specify which device he used. Therefore, we had to take other devices into possession as well.”
