KATHMANDU, May 5: Police arrested Anil Sharma 'Birahi', a politburo member of the underground Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) on Tuesday morning.
According to a source at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Birahi was held from Chitwan district acting on a tip-off.
He is the senior-most leader of the underground outfit to be arrested so far after the government banned it in March 2019 after the party was found to have been involved in violent activities in various parts of the country.
Anil Sharma 'Birahi', a key leader of Chand-led CPN arrested fr...
Sharma is also the chief of the party's Publicity Department. His arrest has been perceived as a major blow to the CPN.
Three Chand-led party cadres held in Ilam
Meanwhile, three cadres of the Chand-led outfit were arrested from Ilam district on Monday night. They were arrested after they fired four rounds of shots at the on-duty police personnel at Mai Municipality-9, Barung.
Armed Police Force and Nepal Police personnel also exchanged fire with the Chand-led party cadres. However, no casualties have been reported so far.
Police also seized various types of improvised explosive devices from CPN cadres.