London, Jan 3 (IANS) A 46-year-old man living in Britain and "linked to the former government in Nepal" was arrested Thursday on suspicion of committing acts of torture during the period of insurgency in the Himalayan country between 1996 and 2006, British media reports said.

The man, who was not named, was arrested from St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorist officers, the Guardian reported.

The man was arrested in relation to allegations of torture committed in Nepal in 2005, a year before the armed conflict between Maoist extremists and the government ended.

He was taken to a police station in East Sussex where he was put in custody while detectives searched a residential address in the seaside town.

BBC said the suspect was linked to the former government in Nepal and that police were acting on a complaint made in Britain.

It said the investigation was linked to allegations of torture made by "an individual who is in contact with human rights campaigners in Nepal and a law firm in London".

The Maoist insurgency in Nepal claimed more than 12,000 lives, according to estimates, the Guardian said.

In February 2005, King Gyanendra unilaterally declared a state of emergency and took over all executive powers of the government to establish an absolute monarchy.

Thousands of people were arrested in a year-long crackdown by the government headed by the king amid allegations of human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers by both sides.

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