Kathmandu, November 3
The government has said that police did not have its full approval to enter a newsroom and question journalists, claiming that the action was part of an internal investigation into information leaks within the police force.
Government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel said neither the government nor the prime minister had been aware of the police action.
Speaking to journalists after a Cabinet meeting at Singha Durbar, Pokharel said the police had acted on their own to investigate how reports about internal police matters had reached the media.
“It was not done with the government’s full approval or anything of that sort. Neither the government nor the prime minister knew about it. The police acted on their own to investigate the leak of internal information,” he said.
Pokharel said police were trying to establish how reports claiming that the prime minister had demanded the resignation of the inspector general of police or was preparing to take action against him had been published.
He described those reports as misleading and said the police were investigating how the information had emerged without first verifying the facts.
Pokharel also said that, as soon as the prime minister was informed about the incident, he instructed the police not to detain any journalists for questioning.
He denied that anyone had been arrested or taken into custody.
