Supporters of Swami Kamalnayanacharya picketed Kantipur Publications premises in Tinkune on Thursday morning for what they claim as the publication's attempt to defame the spiritual leader. The publication had run a news report in its two dailies--Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post--that the spiritual leader had encroached land in Chitwan National Park (CNP) and in Bhaktapur district and constructed infrastructures such as concrete houses, cowsheds, and walls in around 10 hectares of land.

Some 100 supporters chanted slogans against the publication claiming the news was baseless and also called to boycott its dailies. Swami Kamalnayanacharya's follower Swami Krishna Prapannacharya was arrested by CNP officials from Belatari of Nawalparasi on Tuesday after encroachment upon forests inside the national park and its buffer zone increased in the past one year. CNP officials said that they had to arrest Swami Prapannacharya after Swami Kamalnayanacharya, who reportedly established close ties with senior leaders, and his followers ignored their letter asking them to attend a meeting to discuss the matter. Swami Krishna is the head of the Triveni-based Gajendra-moksha Dham run under a trust owned by Kamalnayanacharya. The supporters also called for declaring the country a Hindu state and release the arrested swami. Swami Krishna has been remanded into a 15-day and an investigation into the matter has been launched by CNP officials.