Medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai has been arrested in Pokhara. Prasai, who has been announcing election boycotts and leading various protest movements while also reaching agreements with the government, is accused of making serious allegations against the Election Commission and of planning to hack government websites to steal data by investing money for that purpose.
An audio recording related to an alleged plan to hack government websites and steal data, linked to Prasai, has surfaced publicly. Following correspondence from the Election Commission seeking investigation into the matter, Kaski Police arrested him. Prasai, who is also the coordinator of the “Nation, Nationality, Religion, Culture and Citizen Protection Campaign,” had arrived in Pokhara on Monday for a program.
Earlier, Prasai had publicly claimed that a faction supporting a special general convention of the Nepali Congress paid NPR 520 million to the Election Commission to influence results. He had also posted a video making this claim on social media. Active across the country under the banner of the Citizen Protection Campaign, Prasai has recently been seen leading pro-monarchy movements. He was previously arrested and released in connection with the Tin Kune incident while leading protests demanding the restoration of the monarchy.
After being released from prison, his role during the Gen-Z movement was viewed with suspicion, and he was even invited for talks by the Nepal Army as a stakeholder. After failing to capitalize on the movement, Prasai continued to issue statements against the government led by Sushila Karki and launched a campaign calling for an election boycott.
Following the release of another audio allegedly related to plans to steal government data, Prasai has once again been taken into police custody. According to Kaski Police spokesperson and Information Officer DSP Haribahadur Basnet, preparations are underway to send him to Kathmandu for further investigation.
The government had reached an agreement with Prasai as recently as Magh 2 under the banner of the Nation, Nationality, Religion, Culture and Citizen Protection Campaign. After presenting a 27-point demand to the Home Minister on Kartik 26, a 12-point agreement was signed between the government and Prasai. The agreement included commitments to move forward with withdrawing organized crime and criminal cases filed during the protests, to form a high-level commission to study constitutional reforms, and to establish a revolving fund through the National Cooperative Authority to provide relief to small savers and borrowers associated with microfinance institutions and cooperatives.
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