UML Calls Emergency Meetings After Senior Leader's Arrest

CPN-UML has called two internal meetings on Tuesday, a parliamentary party meeting at 2 PM and a secretariat meeting at 6 PM, a day after the arrest of party Vice-President and former Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel on money laundering charges.

Poudel was arrested on Monday evening in Surkhet, where he had traveled to attend a party programme. Officers from the Department of Money Laundering Investigation directed local police to detain him in connection with suspected share trading transactions and unclear sources of wealth. The arrest was so discreet that other party leaders and workers at the venue only learned about it through news reports.

Party chairman KP Sharma Oli has condemned the arrest, calling it a "kidnapping like" operation. Tuesday's meetings are expected to focus on the party's response to the development.