Former election commissioner Shah arrested

Former election commissioner Sudheer Kumar Shah including six more people have been arrested over the Lalita Niwas procurement case.  A squad from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police apprehended them from different parts of Kathmandu.

Nepal Police spokesperson Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kuber Kadayat said Shah was arrested by CIB from Kathmandu on Tuesday.  Shah was working at the Inland Revenue Office, Dilli Bazar at the time of the case. He retired after working a six-year term as an election commissioner.

The other six arrested are Meen Bahadur Gurung, the Proprietor of the Bhat-Bhateni Franchise, the then-chief of the Inland Revenue Office, Dilli Bazar, Kaladhar Deuja, and employees at the same office, Surendraman Kapali, Dharma Prasad Gautam, Hupendra Mani KC, and Gopal Karki.

Police said they are conducting a ‘special operation’ in connection to the infamous Lalita Niwas land-grab scandal. The arrested are charged with forgery in bringing the land belonging to the Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar under the ownerships of individuals from 2049 BS to 2069 BS.

Earlier, the CIB had submitted a report to the Government Attorney’s Office, naming 300 individuals as the defendants in this scandal. But the Office had returned the police investigation file, stating that further investigation was needed on this.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had also carried out its own investigation into this scam and filed cases at the Special Court against 175 individuals, which remains sub-judice.

Police have pursued action on the charge of transferring the land at Lalita Niwas at Baluwatar which is under the government’s ownership in the name of various individuals.