Prachanda Criticises Police Action Involving Former Chief Justice Rana

Dragon Media News Desk

Nepali Communist Party coordinator and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” has criticised the decision to take former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana from his residence to a police office at night. Speaking as he left parliament on Monday, Dahal said the police action raised serious questions about legal procedure and personal liberty.

Dahal described the manner in which Rana was taken without an arrest warrant as the “height of lawlessness.” He warned that a repetition of such actions could have serious consequences for the government. He also rejected the government’s explanation that Rana had been moved because of a security threat, arguing that police should have increased security at his home if he was at risk.

Dahal said any attempt to use the action against Rana to intimidate others would be harmful. Asked whether the incident was connected to disagreements within the governing party, he offered no evidence of such a link and said only that more facts might emerge.

Police have said they had no plan to bring a case against Rana and took him to a safe location because of a security concern. Political parties and legal professionals have questioned how that explanation accounts for the decision to take him to a police office in the middle of the night.