Suspicious cars outside Nepal’s media houses, politician's residence trigger panic; probe initiated

Kathmandu, Jul 13 (PTI) Nepal Police on Monday launched an investigation after suspicious cars were found parked outside three media houses, a senior opposition leader's residence and a supermarket in Kathmandu. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) said vehicles parked outside the offices of Kantipur Publications, Onlinekhabar and Himalaya Television from around 7 am local time disrupted journalists' movement and created an atmosphere of fear among media workers. Police later removed the cars with the help of cranes and handed them over to the traffic department. Later, more such suspicious vehicles were found - one outside the residence of Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa and the other outside the Bhatbhateni Supermarket - prompting a police investigation. In a statement, the journalists' federation condemned the incident, as it urged authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and take action against those responsible. Kathmandu District Police Office spokesperson Apil Bohara said police acted immediately after receiving information about the vehicles. Bohara further said the police did not find any suspicious object or any immediate threat at the affected locations and that an investigation was underway. According to media reports, one of the five parked vehicles belonged to Ajaya Jaishwal, a leader of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). It was the car that was found parked outside the gate of Kantipur Publications, which publishes The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur daily. However, the police have not officially confirmed the news reports about the politician's car. Photographs of the registration numbers of the five cars were widely circulated on social media, but it wasn't immediately clear who owned them. After the news about the politician's car being spotted broke out, FNJ President Nirmala Sharma said: "This is an attempt by the state to shut down the mouth of the media." Later in the day, the ruling RSP issued a statement saying, "Such acts aimed at exerting psychological pressure on media houses and journalists are against the democratic norms and values." The political party underlined the "need for creating a fearless atmosphere for media organisations and journalists to perform their work" as it asked security agencies to conduct an impartial investigation into the matter and take legal action against those responsible. It, however, did not specifically comment on news reports about the politician's car. PTI SBP FHK ABD ABD