Police on February 22 rearrested Dharmendra Bastola, the Secretariat Member of the outlawed Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand) even as the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Government to release him unconditionally. Police arrested Bastola shortly after he exited the main entrance of the SC. Bastola has been kept in custody at the Metropolitan Police Range Office, Singh Durbar since he was arrested from Lalitpur on January 13. The apex court’s order to release Bastola comes in the wake of the Chand-led Maoist party expressing its readiness to sit for talks with the Government. The outlawed group has asked the Government to create a conducive environment for the talks.