Kathmandu, 31 October (H.S.): Police raided several media organisations in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, in the middle of the night, taking nearly half a dozen journalists into custody.

The first raid took place at the office of online news portal Diyopost in Anamnagar. Police detained the portal's Editor-in-Chief, Sudeep Bishwakarma, and News Coordinator Madan Dhungana.

According to a journalist working with the portal, four police personnel in plain clothes arrived at the office. The officers reportedly said they had come to take Bishwakarma and Dhungana with them for questioning.

The incident comes amid reports of police visits to several media organisations on Friday and the detention of multiple journalists.

Police also raided the newsroom of Nepal Press and took journalist Bishwamani Subedi into custody. Similarly, journalist Shobharaj Baral of Motivate News was detained after plainclothes police personnel arrived at the office of a media organisation in Bijulibazar.

Dhiraj Basnet, Editor-in-Chief of DNA Khabar, was also detained by the police. A journalist associated with the portal said Basnet had received a telephone call in the afternoon from the Kathmandu Police Crime Investigation Office in Teku. He was asked to report to the office for questioning in connection with an alleged scam involving eSewa.

According to the journalist, Basnet went to the office as instructed but was subsequently informed that he would have to remain there.

Meanwhile, five police personnel in plain clothes arrived at the office of the daily newspaper Naya Patrika, seeking to take its correspondent, Navaraj Mainali, into custody.

According to editor Khagendra Pant, the police personnel said they needed to take Mainali to the Cyber Bureau. Pant alleged that the officers did not produce an arrest warrant and forcibly took him away from the office.

There were also reports of a police team visiting the office of Diyopost. The portal had published a report alleging that it had received threats over a news story concerning the Chief Justice.

Police reportedly took the portal's editor and a journalist into custody and subsequently took them to the Cyber Bureau.

The midnight police operations have triggered strong opposition from both ruling and opposition political parties, with several leaders expressing their disapproval of the action.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar