Lalita Niwas Land Scam: Three More Apprehended

The Central Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police has arrested three individuals in connection with the ongoing investigation into the infamous Lalita Niwas land scam.

On Sunday, three individuals were arrested in connection with the case, shedding light on the fraudulent activities surrounding the controversial land.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Baburaja Maharjan, Ghaman Kumar Karki, and Shivaji Bhattarai. According to the information provided by the authorities, Maharjan was found to be one of the fake tenants involved in the scam. Bhattarai, who held the position of Kathmandu Metropolitan City ward number 4 secretary at the time of the incident, currently serves as an official at the metropolis. Karki, on the other hand, was an employee at the Department of Survey.

The CIB informed that Karki as survey official had recommended that the land was not government property during the expansion works of the residence of a VVIP of Baluwatar when Madhav Kumar Nepal was the prime minister. Following Karki’s recommendation, the ownership of over 14 ropanis of land was transferred to various fake tenants and other private individuals.

The Kathmandu District Court on Wednesday had remanded four people, who were arrested by the bureau on Tuesday, to seven days in police custody including former election commissioner Sudhir Shah, owner of Bhatbhateni Supermarket Min Bahadur Gurung; and former employees of Land Revenue Office Dharma Prasad Gautam and Gopal Karki.

They are accused of forging government documents with the intent of transferring the ownership of the government land located at Lalita Niwas, Baluwatar, in the name of private individuals.

The police had arrested seven accused on Tuesday. Three of them —Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Kapali and Hupendra Mani KC— were released later in the day citing a stay order issued by the Supreme Court on August 4 last year that had prevented their detention for investigation.

Lalita Niwas encompasses approximately 300 ropanis (equivalent to around 15 hectares) of land, housing prominent facilities such as the prime minister’s residence, the central office of Nepal Rastra Bank, and several other VIP residences.