The former prime minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has been arrested in Kathmandu after refusing to appear before an anti-corruption panel.
Mr Deuba was removed from office by King Gyanendra on 1 February when the King seized control of the government.
He is the highest ranking politician to be detained by the Royal Commission on Corruption Control, set up by the King.
Last week Mr Deuba described the anti-corruption panel as unconstitutional and illegal.
Phone lines cut
A group of about 50 policemen arrested the former prime minister at his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Minendra Rijal, a member of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Party, told AFP news agency.
The BBC's Charles Havilland in Kathmandu says that there had been days of speculation that Mr Deuba would be arrested.
Last Wednesday, Mr Deuba was summoned by the commission, which has sweeping powers of arrest and detention, to answer questions on alleged irregularities in a lucrative drinking water contract.
However, he refused to go, accusing the commission of waging a vendetta against those opposed to the King taking power.
When Mr Deuba was finally arrested authorities were keen to avoid media attention our correspondent said, cutting power and telephone lines to Mr Deuba's house, before making their move.
Mr Rijal said Mr Deuba's current whereabouts are unknown.
The arrest comes just four days before the emergency measures imposed by King Gyanendra in February are due to expire.
The King said he seized absolute power and suspended civil liberties in February because Mr Deuba's government failed to tackle a violent insurgency by Maoist rebels in which 11,000 people have been killed.
He also accuses the Deuba administration of failing to adequately prepare the ground for elections in the spring.
(BBC)
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