Editor of Tandav Weekly published from Pokhara and tandavnews.com Arjun Giri has been arrested.
Kaski Police arrested Giri, who had reported about dupery by Bipendra Raj Batas of Batas Company, Monday morning.
Batas had lodged a cyber crime complaint against Giri with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. CIB had written to Kaski Police requesting Giri's arrest, according to Spokesperson with Kaski Police DSP Rabindra Man Gurung who expressed ignorance about the case.
CIB Chief Niraj Shahi said Giri has been arrested on the basis of a complaint that he wrote a news report against Batas in an unregistered paper. "We found that his paper and portal were not registered with the Nepal Press Council. We have arrested him for further investigation," DIG Shahi said. "We have already acquired an arrest warrant from the Kathmandu District Court."
Editor Giri, however, claimed that both his weekly and portal are registered. "My paper is registered with the District Administration Office and the portal with the Press Council Nepal completing all due procedures," Giri told Setopati. "It is not a case of whether the paper is registered or not. Batas is trying to frame me by financially influencing the police," he claimed.
Giri had written a report titled "Fraud! Dishonest Bipendra Raj Batas' on April 5 on Tandav Weekly. The news report was also posted on its web portal.
Giri had reported that Batas had duped entrepreneurs in Pokhara, Manoj Shrestha and Janak Raj Pahari, of Rs 19.80 million and 22.50 million respectively citing the police complaint the duo had filed with the Kaski Police.
Kaski President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Dipendra Shrestha took exception to the arrest of a journalist for writing a news report. "FNJ Kaski condemns the practice of lodging a cyber crime case against a journalist despite the provision of lodging a complaint with the Press Council Nepal and demands immediate release of Giri," Shrestha has posted on Facebook.
Acting Chairman of the council Kishore Shrestha said the council has yet to be formally informed about Giri's arrest. "We look into the cases of registered media houses. The case is handled by the police if a paper or portal is not registered," Shrestha said. "The council can still take initiative for his release if he were to write to us saying he will comply with the code of conduct from now onward."
