Kathmandu, Feb. 25: King Gyanendra?s government today released six high-profile detainees, including second-rung politicians, hours after Maoist rebels launched an attack on a regional station of state-owned Nepal Television.

According to information reaching here, hundreds of Maoists wreaked havoc on the NTV station at Kohalpur in the western district of Banke last night and escaped with expensive equipment.

The reports quoted the station head, Man Bahadur Ghale, as saying that about 700 heavily armed Maoists attacked the centre at 11 pm and later set it ablaze after disconnecting telephone lines.

According to Ghale, equipment worth Rs 7 crore was destroyed. The rampaging rebels also took away a video recorder, seven video cameras, a motorcycle, two cycles and a mobile phone. They torched the studio, control room, store room and the administration and accounts sections and made a bonfire of the equipment.

Security officials in Kathmandu said one batch of rebels engaged the security forces deployed in the area by attacking them. Simultaneously, another batch struck at the television station.

As a result, regional telecast of NTV in western Nepal was disrupted. Officials in the NTV headquarters confirmed the attack but declined to give details.

This afternoon, the government released six detainees. Bishnu Nisthuri, the general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists who was among those freed, expressed hope that others under detention would be released soon.

Homnath Dahal, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) spokesperson and cabinet minister in the deposed Sher Bahadur Deuba government, was also freed. So were CPN-UML spokesperson Pradeep Nepal and Nepali Congress leader Shiva Basnet.

A former ambassador to India, Lokraj Baral, has also been released.

However, former Prime Ministers Girija Prasad Koirala and Deuba and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal remain under house arrest.