The government on Tuesday released all detainees who were taken into custody for defying curfew and prohibitory in Kathmandu.

The district administrations of Kathmandu n ad Lalitpur ordered the of the detainees after the royal proclamation Monday night.

Those freed include former Supreme Court justice Laxman Aryal, former speaker Daman Nath Dhungana, rights activists Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Malla K Sundar, Charan Prasain and journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, among the 18 persons kept at the Armed Police Force base camp in Bhaktapur.

The government has also released Krishna Pahadi, Devendra Raj Pandey, Shyam Shrestha and Mathura Shrestha. The four people were taken into custody on January 19 on the eve of a mass meeting called by the seven parties at Basantapur in Kathmandu.

Charan Prasain, president of Human Rights Organisation of Nepal, told Nepalnews that they were the last batch of detainees to be released. He said the Kathmandu CDO did not release the 18 persons detained at the Duwakot initially, but the released them later.

Hundreds of leaders and cadres of political parties, human rights activists, journalists, professionals, teachers and professors were arrested during the people’s movement beginning April 6, while many had been kept in custody since last four months. nepalnews.com ia Apr 20