Reporter with a local Manaskhanda daily, Dinesh Singh Mahara, was taken under control for two hours by the police when he had reached the District Police Office (DPO) for news reporting on 7 November 2016. DPO, Kanchanpur, took him under control. Kanchanpur is the far western district in the southern plain of the country.
Talking to Freedom Forum, Editor of the Manashkhanda daily, Khem Bhandari said, "Reporter Mahara was taken under control by an inspector as he reached the DPO for news collection. The reason behind his control was that he had been reporting on the misdeeds of the police persons."
However, police person taking Mahara under control was accusing reporter of recording people's conversations on the DPO premises.
On the other hand, reporter Mahara argued that he was operating mobile phone for personal purpose not for recording the activities around the DPO.
Freedom Forum condemns the incident and strongly urges the concerned District Police Office to respect journalist's right to free reporting. Such hostile treatment of security is detrimental to press freedom.
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