BIRATNAGAR, JUNE 13: Manoj Rai involved in the attempted murder of Republica correspondent Khilanath Dhakal, has been arrested on Monday morning from Mahendra Morang campus, in Biratnagar.
The mastermind behind the attack Parshuram Basnet is still absconding.[break]
Rohit Koirala, the third person involved was arrested by the police the very next day after the incident.
Rai is a former driver of the Morang Youth Force Chairman Basnet, who along with a group of 5-6 people attacked Dhakal and severely beat him up for a news report written by him, exposing the misdeeds of the Youth Force.
Rai has been arrested by a police team lead by Inspector Durga Regmi, who had also arrested Koirala from his house and was responsible for rescuing Dhakal on the night of the attack.
Threatening from the mastermind
Meanwhile, Basnet has threatened the Nagarik and Republica Dailies that it could face protests from youth organizations. "We will protest and are ready to face any consequences to uphold our stand," he said in an interview given to Himalaya Television from an undisclosed place on Sunday night.
He further added, "What will happen if our whole organization focuses on protests against Nagarik Daily?" He accused Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and Nagarik Daily of filing a false case against him. He opined that this was being done as an attempt to malign his reputation and that of the organization.
He informed that he is not absconding and that his name is not in any of the absconding lists maintained by the police.
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