Police Return to Kishor Shrestha’s Residence, Wife Says Officers Claimed One Room Had Been Left Unsearched

Dragon Media Correspondent

Police returned on Thursday evening to the Nakhu residence of Jan Aastha Weekly Editor-in-Chief and senior journalist Kishor Shrestha, who remains in custody.

According to Shrestha’s wife, Saraswati Shrestha, police said they had returned because one room had been left unsearched during the previous night’s operation. She said the repeated police presence had left the family deeply distressed.

Following Shrestha’s arrest on Wednesday evening, police searched his residence later that night. The family said computers, laptops and other electronic devices were taken away during the search.

Saraswati said she was at court on Thursday when her children, who were alone at home, called to inform her that police had arrived again.

“Only the children are at home. They called me saying the police kept ringing the doorbell,” she said. “I told them not to open the door. After searching the house through the night and taking everything they wanted, what have they come back for?”

No detailed official explanation has yet been made public regarding the second police visit. According to Saraswati, officers said they needed to search a room that had been missed during the earlier operation.

Police arrested Shrestha on Wednesday evening as part of an investigation into an alleged offence related to individual privacy. Following his arrest, police searched his residence during the night and later entered the Jan Aastha Weekly office on Thursday morning, where computers and other materials were also seized.

The arrest and successive police operations at Shrestha’s residence and media office have drawn criticism from the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Press Council Nepal, Nepal Media Society and other media organisations. Calls for his release and for greater protection of press freedom have also emerged from political leaders and international media bodies.

The renewed police presence at Shrestha’s residence has further raised concerns over the psychological pressure on his family and the procedures being followed in the ongoing investigation.