Police raided medical businessman Durga Prasai’s house in Bhaktapur on Thursday. A team from Bhaktapur Police and the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office conducted the raid.
Police, who searched the house from afternoon until evening, seized his mobile phone, iPad, and other digital devices. A large contingent of plainclothes police was also deployed for the search, during which Prasai’s clothes and documents were left scattered around. Police have not yet issued any official statement about the search.
Asked about it, Bhaktapur District Police Range DSP Deepak Kumar Karki claimed he had no information on the matter.
The search lasted roughly three hours. It comes after Morang Police faced heavy criticism for an earlier search of Prasai’s house that turned up nothing. This time, police have remained silent about the operation.
Prasai was furious after the search, directing his anger at the prime minister and home minister. He said he is not a drug dealer, arms supplier, or human trafficker, that he pays taxes to the state and provides jobs to 5,000 people, and questioned why he keeps being targeted. He said the search happened suddenly while he had guests at home, calling it harassment.
Security sources, however, describe the reason for the search as quite sensitive. They allege that Prasai has recently been inciting protests among victims of microfinance institutions and loan-shark lending schemes, and that security agencies received information that some of these victims were preparing to resort to self-immolation if their demands weren’t addressed. A security official said the search followed intelligence that Prasai was instigating the microfinance victims.
Given how serious and volatile the situation was believed to be, the government had earlier formed a committee to hold talks with Prasai’s group, led by Joint Secretary Liladhar Subedi from the Prime Minister’s Office, with a 9-member team from Prasai’s side led by Bishnu Bohara Chhetri. Talks were held on Bhadau 2 but reportedly did not conclude, after which security agencies raided Prasai’s house. Sources say the matter remains under investigation.
