Kanak Mani Dixit, co-publisher of Himal media and a civil rights activist, was arrested by Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Friday.

He was detained by CIAA, an anti-graft body, from near his office in Patan Dhoka in Kathmandu on charges of financial irregularities.

CIAA spokesperson Krishna Hari Pushkar told The Indian Express, 

“We have arrested Dixit, the Sajha Yatayat chairman, not the journalist, to investigate his involvement in corruption.”

Terming the act “a deliberately vengeful act by the Chairman against Mr Dixit” by chairman Lok Man Singh Karki, Federation of Nepalese Journalists (Himalmedia Chapter) has condemned the act and demanded that Dixit be released unconditionally. They allege that Dixit was detained on Friday just before the courts closed to prevent being freed on bail and that he has been detained under inhuman conditions.

According to them, Dixit was mentioned in a list put out by the CIAA in November of individuals it said were ‘under investigation for amassing disproportionate wealth’. CIAA had earlier this month asked Dixit to present himself, but he had replied pointing out that CIAA didn’t have the jurisdiction to issue such an order.

“He is locked up in a common jail cell for petty criminals at Gaushala Police Circle despite having elevated blood pressure of 190/90”, they said.