Scores of people staged a protest at Maitighar Mandala expressing solidarity with anti-corruption campaigner Gyanendra Shahi, who was allegedly attacked by the cadres of Nepal communist Party (NCP) on Saturday in Chitwan.

The protesters accused the government of unleashing terror and trying to gag those who spoke against the government.

Speaking to THT during the protest programme, Surendra Bhandari, a senior advocate, said the government had resorted to state terror after failing to control his anti-corruption campaign.

“The ruling party used its cadres to attack Shahi after it failed to silence him through legal means,” Bhandari said.

Shahi was pulled into controversy after he confronted Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai for delaying a Kathmandu-bound flight from Nepalgunj earlier this month, the video of the confrontation was widely shared on social media.

Shahi’s supporters said that after the confrontation inside the flight,a group of people had misbehaved with him at a press meet at Reporter’s club in Maitighar.

He was again ill-treated by the same group of people at another press meet held in Lalitpur on September 15.

Shahi was then taken into custody by police from the press meet citing security concerns. Although released on the same day, he was again manhandled at his own office in Pulchowk a few days later.

Several other speakers at the protest programme said that attack on Shahi was simply a reflection of the government’s frustration after it failed to deliver and keep the promises made during elections.

Members of the anti-corruption campaign have decided to file a case against the people involved in the attack with Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, tomorrow.