KATHMANDU: Following the issuance of an arrest warrant against journalist Dil Bhusan Pathak, Nepal Police have also intensified surveillance on another journalist, Narayan Aryal.
Aryal reported that plainclothes police officers have been stationed outside his residence in Kupondole since Thursday morning.
Aryal, however, was not at home when the officers arrived and has since gone into hiding. Speaking to Khabarhub, he confirmed he is currently staying at an undisclosed location. Aryal stated that the police are searching for him in connection with Pathak, although he insists he is not officially involved with the journalist or his work.
The police’s pursuit of Pathak stems from a complaint filed at the Cyber Bureau, based on which the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday.
A team from the bureau had visited Pathak’s residence in Dhumbarahi on Wednesday in an attempt to arrest him.
The complaint reportedly relates to a YouTube video posted by Pathak about three weeks ago, in which he alleged that Jaiveer Deuba—son of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba—had invested in the Hilton Hotel project in Kathmandu.
The video has stirred controversy and led to a formal complaint under cyber-related offenses.
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