The NDA has also owned responsibility for the killing of an Indian priest in southern Nepal last year, Father John Prakash Moyalan, and setting off bombs in two mosques in southern Nepal killing two men during prayers.

The news of the arrest was treated with cautious joy by the Christian community.

'We thank the government of Nepal for executing its duty,' said Father Robin Rai, a parish priest at the Assumption Church. 'We regret the crimes committed against humanity.'

However, the priest said that Mainali's arrest did not mean the anti-Christian attacks will stop.

'A few people have been arrested. But the network still remains. Only the future will show what happens, Rai said.

The NDA's success in intimidating the Christian community has inspired other extortionist groups.

A new outfit calling itself the National Defence Party and claiming to be the mother organisation of the NDA has renewed the 'quit Nepal' threat to Christians, warning that it would soon start a movement to restore Hinduism as the state religion in the country.