KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered to produce the third-ranked leader of the Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand alias Biplav Dhamendra Bastola ‘Kanchan’ before the court within 24 hours.

Hearing a habeas corpus petetion filed at the apex arguing his arrest to be illegal, a single bench of Justice Manoj Sharma made the order.

Western Command in-charge and member of the Secretariat of the outlawed Biplav outfit Bastola was remanded by Lalitpur District Court on January 17 in police custody for six days for investigation.

Bastola was arrested from Gimdi of Lalitpur, a border area of Lalitpur and Makwanpur by a special police team deployed from Kathmandu and Lalitpur.

Bastola is also a member of the faction’s secretariat and head of the Foreign Department.