Delhi magistrate court orders release of Nepali activists

A local Delhi magistrate court has ordered the release of five expatriate Nepali political activists who were nabbed by the Delhi Police on Thursday night while black-painting the word Royal from the Royal Nepalese Embassy here.

The verdict was handed down by the single bench court headed by Justice Sanjay Bansal at the Paliala House Court here Friday evening, hours after the Tilaknagar Police lodged a petition charging them with committing a public offence.

Those released after a night in police custody are Nepali Congress activist Bal Krishna Pande, CPN-UML-affiliated Yuvaraj Baskota, and activists Khem Chandra Dhakal, DP Yadav and Govinda Pokhrel.

"The police tried their best to nail us saying we were committing a crime in a diplomatic, VIP area," Pande said after his release. "But the judge decided to release us upholding the government's decision in Nepal yesterday."