Addressing a central committee meeting of the Youth Association Nepal (YAN), the youth wing of the CPN-UML, in Dhulikhel on Saturday, Gautam said that Senior Superintendent of Police Kharel, chief of the Metropolitan Police Range in Kathmandu, was striving to become a celebrity. The home minister is of the opinion that the practice of arresting ‘criminals’ and releasing them in a week promotes impunity.

Home Minister Gautam expressed his dissatisfaction saying that Kharel did not even make it a point to meet him either at his office in Singha Durbar or at the ministers’ quarters in Lalitpur.

“There is Singha Durbar in Kathmandu. There is Home Ministry inside Singha Durbar. That SSP [Kharel] has not come to meet me. He may think his pride will be at stake if he comes and meets me,” said the home minister.

Minister Gautam apparently expressed his dissatisfaction at the recent arrest of Amit Lama, the YAN central member and UML district committee member in Kavre, on the alleged instruction of Kharel. He, however, said he would not intervene in police investigation.

“A police officer came to me and said that the investigation on Amit is going on. As the home minister, I cannot ask the police to stop investigation just because he is a UML district committee member,” said Gautam, adding that nobody would be the victim of injustice until his tenure as the home minister.

On the occasion, YAN central Chairman Mahesh Basnet said Amit was arrested for no apparent reason. He demanded that the home minister should punish the officer who arrested ‘innocent’ Lama.