Police take journalist Kishor Shrestha to Cyber Bureau for talks over complaints

Police took journalist Kishor Shrestha to the Cyber Bureau in Bhotahiti, Kathmandu, on Saturday from his residence in Lalitpur for discussions over complaints filed by Shrestha and ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader Himesh Panta.

Panta had filed a complaint against Shrestha over a report published by Jana Aastha weekly, of which Shrestha is the editor-in-chief. The report alleged that Panta’s family had grabbed 4.5 ropanis of land (one ropani equals 0.0509 hectares) belonging to Tilak Prasad Bidari of Thakre Rural Municipality-10 in Dhading district.

Panta lodged the complaint with the bureau over the report. After Panta filed his complaint, Shrestha also filed a complaint against him over remarks Panta had made about the journalist on social media.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Raj Awasthi of the Cyber Bureau said both parties had been called in to discuss the complaints received by police.

“We called both parties who had filed complaints for discussions. This is not a case of taking anyone into custody,” Awasthi told Kantipur.

Police had previously arrested Shrestha on August 12 over a news report and searched his home and office. He was later released from custody on the Supreme Court’s order.