[Updated] Police have arrested an Armed Police Force constable in connection with the December 9 fire that broke out in a store room of Halchowk-based APF headquarters. SSP Dibesh Lohani said APF constable Ram Krishna Shrestha, who was assigned to guard the store room of the accounts section, was held after investigation launched by Metropolitan Police Crime Division showed his direct involvement in the incident. Property worth around Rs 2.2 million, including important documents, were gutted in the fire. Ministry of Home Affairs and APF Headquarters had also opened investigation separately. Preliminary investigation suggests that constable Shrestha had set the store on fire with an intention to cause loss and damage to government property. A source said he premeditated the fire after the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority summoned him to record his statement in a case. Shrestha has been charged with arson. MPCD said he was referred to Metropolitan Police Circle, Swoyambhu, for legal action. काठमाडौंको हलचोकमा रहेको सशस्त्र प्रहरीको मुख्यालयमा गत सोमबार राति भएको आलजनीमा सशस्त्र प्रहरीकै अधिकारीको संलग्नता रहेको खुलेको छ । राति साढे १ बजे सशस्त्रको खेल मैदानसँगै रहेको स्टोर भएको भवनमा भएको अागजनीमा सशस्त्रकै प्रहरी हवल्दार रामकृष्ण श्रेष्ठको संलग्नता रहेको खुलेको हो । महानगरीय अपराध महाशाखाको अनुसन्धानले घटनामा श्रेष्ठको संलग्नता देखिएपछि उनलाई प्रहरी वृत, स्वयम्भूको टोलीले पक्राउ गरेको प्रहरी वृत, स्वयम्भूले जनाएको छ । घटनामा सशस्त्र प्रहरीको केही महत्वपूर्ण सामग्री जलेर नष्ट भएको थियो । सशस्त्र प्रहरीका प्रवक्ता डिआइजी बाबुराम पाण्डेका अनुसार आगलागीबाट २२ लाख रुपैयाँ बढीको क्षति भएको छ । कुनै गोप्य कागजहरु जलाउने उद्देश्यले आगलागी भएको हुन सक्ने आशंकामा अनुसन्धान थालिएको थियो । अागजनीपछि नेपाल प्रहरीको महानगरीय अपराध महाशाखाको टोलीले घटनास्थल पुगेर मुचुल्का तयार पारेको थियो । घटनाको अनुसन्धानमा प्रशासन विभागका एआइजी प्रेम शाहीको संयोजकत्वमा छानबिन समिति समेत गठन भएको थियो । त्यस्तै, गृह मन्त्रालयका सह-सचिव कृष्ण राउतकाे नेतृत्वमा समेत अागलागी बारे छानबिन गर्न समिति गठन भएकाे थियाे । Update.... The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) on Sunday arrested an Armed Police Force (APF) sub-inspector for abetting the arson in a storeroom at APF’s headquarters in Halchowk. Senior Superintendent of Police Dibesh Lohani, chief of Metropolitan Police Crime Division, confirmed the arrest Hum Bahadur Thapa, who works in the accounts section of the security agency. “We found his involvement in planning arson,” said SSP Lohani. With the arrest of Shrestha, two APF personnel have been arrested for setting fire in the storeroom of the accounts section on the night of December 11. The MPCD had earlier arrested APF head constable Ram Krishna Shrestha. Properties worth Rs 2.5 million, including some important documents, were destroyed in the fire. Officers investigation the case suspect Shrestha and Thapa, who had been repeatedly summoned by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) regarding procurements of the security forces, might have set alight the documents fearing that it might blow the lead off their involvement in financial embezzlement. During interrogation, Shrestha told investigators that he kept the file near the window and doused it with petrol before setting the fire on the night of December 11. Shrestha had sustained minor burn injuries.