Kathmandu, Oct. 7 -- When police picked up former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana from his Maharajgunj residence at around 2am on September 27, one item they appeared particularly interested in was his phone.

As soon as officers brought Rana to the Metropolitan Crime Division in Teku, they took the device. Rana was kept in the office of SSP Santosh Khadka and offered tea and snacks. When they "released" him about 12 hours later, they returned his phone.

An official involved in the case acknowledged that the phone had been taken. Rana has neither publicly commented on his detention nor said anything about the phone or what happened to it.

Police have not explained why the phone of someone brought in for his own security needed to ...