INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JUNE 27The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police today arrested seven persons in connection with the
Lalita Niwas land grab scam in which hundreds of land mafia, political leaders and government employees illegally transferred
government-owned land in the heart of Kathmandu to private ownership.
Lalita Niwas scam: five more arrested
Proprietor of Bhatbhateni franchise, Min Bahadur Gurung, arrested in Lalita Niwas scam
Of those arrested today are former Commissioner of
the Election Commission Sudhir Kumar Shah and owner of Bhatbhateni Super Market Min Bahadur Gurung.Both were arrested from Kathmandu
Similarly, the other arrestees include, head of Dilli Bazaar Land Revenue Office Kaladhar Deuja, and subordinate employees of the same
office Surendraman Kapali, Dharma Prasad Gautam, Hupendra Mani KC and Gopal Karki.
Today's arrests show the police have
reopened investigation into irregularities surrounding Lalita Niwas - the complex that houses the prime minister's residence, Nepal Rastra
Bank's central office, and houses of VIPs - scam.The case had remained in the freezer for the past two years as only a couple of people
including Deep Basnyat, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and Krishna Prasad Poudel,
former staff of Dilli Bazaar Land Revenue Office were sent to judicial custody.The CIAA had filed cases against 175 people at the Special
Court, including three former ministers, of whom almost all were released on bail.Gurung, who was arrested today, is one of the 175 who was
already indicted in the case and released on a bail amount of Rs 20 million
He is accused of buying government owned land and transferring it in his name.Similarly, former commissioner of the Election Commission Shah
who was also arrested today had served as joint secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs
After retirement, the government had appointed him commissioner at the Election Commission
His alleged involvement in the scam occurred when he was working as a section officer at the Land Revenue Office in Bhaktapur
Police have accused him of playing the role of middleman in transferring government land to private ownership
He had received over one ropani 11 aana land (around 9,250 square feet) as bribe
He apparently transferred the ownership of the land to his wife Urmila.In a separate investigation, the CIB has accused more than 400
people, including former bureaucrats-turned-ministers, employees of the then Dilli Bazaar-based Land Revenue Office and land mafias, all of
whom played their role in transferring 143 ropani land belonging to Lalita Niwas.It may be recalled that the Panchayat era government had
acquired a total of 299 ropani land belonging to Nepali Congress leader Subarna Shumsher Rana in 1964 by giving him and his family members
due compensation as per the Land Acquisition Act-1961.However, the land mafia, corrupt bureaucrats and the government decision taken by
former prime ministers Madhav Kumar Nepal and Baburam Bhattarai supported the illegal transfer of 143 ropani land to private ownership.In a
later development today, police released three of the arrestees Deuja, KC and Kapali, after holding them in custody for a few hours.They
produced a Supreme Court order that asked authorities not to arrest them for the scam
The SC had given this order last year.A version of this article appears in the print on June 28, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
