Police in southern Nepal
arrested the leader of an
ethnic rights group for his alleged involvement in murders and kidnappings,
the Home Ministry said on Sunday.
Police raided a hotel in Lahan town on Saturday night and
arrested Bispot Singh and about half a dozen of his supporters, Home Ministry spokesman Modraj Dotel said.
Police have not charged Singh with any crime, Dotel said. Under the Criminal Act, police must bring Singh before a court within 24 hours, and charged within 24 days.
Singh heads a faction of the Tarai People’s Liberation Front, an ethnic
rights group that authorities blame for the murder of at least a dozen government officials and other civilians in the south and for the abduction of scores more. Dotel said police were investigating the others arrested with Singh at the hotel in Lahan town, about 400 kilometres southeast of Kathmandu.
The Tarai People’s Liberation Front is one of several groups that have organised demonstrations and strikes to demand greater rights for ethnic minorities in southern Nepal.