Fiscal Nepal
First Business News Portal in English from Nepal
KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has arrested three employees, including a customs officer at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), on charges of accepting bribes from service seekers.
Those detained include Customs Officer Indra Neupane of the Foreign Mail Customs Section at TIA Customs Office, Non-Gazetted Officer (NaSu) Chhabi Prasad Rijal from the Postal Services Department under the Ministry of Communications, and Office Assistant Ganesh Prasad Pudasaini.
According to the anti-graft body, the trio was taken into custody on Monday along with Rs 268,288 in cash and 23 mobile phones. CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane said the money recovered from the suspects includes bribe amounts and funds with undisclosed sources.
Raid Following Complaint
The arrests followed a complaint that service recipients were being forced to pay bribes while sending goods abroad through courier services. Acting on the tip-off, a CIAA team from Tangal carried out the operation.
During the search; Rs 10,000 in bribe money was recovered from Pudasaini’s office room, Rs 40,350 of undisclosed source was seized from his residence, Rs 96,070 was recovered from his person, in total, Rs 146,420 was seized in connection with Pudasaini.
From Rijal, authorities recovered; Rs 20,000 allegedly received as a bribe, Rs 18,848 of undisclosed source, this brought the total recovered from Rijal to Rs 38,848.
The CIAA stated that the money was collected in collusion among Officer Neupane, Rijal, and Pudasaini and was seized before it could be divided.
Mobile Phones Seized for Forensic Examination
In addition to the cash, the CIAA confiscated 23 mobile phones from the three suspects and several other individuals under suspicion. The devices are being prepared for examination at a forensic laboratory as part of the ongoing investigation.
The anti-corruption body said further investigation is underway to determine the full scope of the bribery network and whether more individuals were involved.
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