Durga Prasain Arrested, Again

Police arrested Durga Prasain, a figure who has courted controversy repeatedly in recent years, in Pokhara on Monday, January 19.

A Nepal Police team took him, the executive director of the Jhapa-based B & C Medical College, into custody.  

Superintendent of Police Naveen Karki of the District Police Office, Kaski, said Prasain was being sent to Kathmandu as the case against him is registered in Kathmandu.

The arrest followed a request from the Election Commission on Sunday. The commission had asked police to take action and wrote to the Cyber Bureau.

A video of Prasain claiming that the Gagan Thapa-led faction of the Nepali Congress secured legitimacy for its special general convention through a Rs 520 million deal with the Election Commission recently went viral.

Prasain has previously been detained multiple times for his controversial statements and actions.

In November 2025, police arrested him from his Bhaktapur residence for making inflammatory remarks against then interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, then Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, and Gen Z activist Sudan Gurung.

He has led campaigns framed around “protecting the nation, nationalism, culture and religion,” and initiatives calling for the “liberation” of debtors from repaying bank loans.

He first rose to prominence through close ties with senior political leaders, including CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
A widely circulated photograph of the trio at Prasain’s residence once drew public attention. Those relationships later soured.

Prasain also remained in the spotlight during repeated hunger strikes by Dr Govinda KC. The protests opposed government attempts to grant B & C Medical College affiliation to run an MBBS programme.

He has also faced allegations of harassing senior bank officials.

After distancing himself from republican leaders, Prasain later aligned with royalist and right-wing groups.

In April 2025, police arrested him in Jhapa over his alleged involvement in a violent protest in Tinkune, Kathmandu, on March 28, 2025. Two people, including a television journalist, were killed in the incident. He was charged with crimes against the state and organised crime linked to pro-monarchist demonstrations.

Earlier, on September 22, 2024, he was arrested on cybercrime charges and released on bail on October 1, 2024.