Five Individuals, Including Acting Chief Administrative Officer, Charged in Corruption Case in Bajhang, Nepal

Five individuals, including the then Acting Chief Administrative Officer of Bithadchir Rural Municipality in Bajhang, have been charged in a corruption case filed at the Special Court in Kathmandu.

On Tuesday, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a corruption case against Acting Chief Administrative Officer Chakradev Bhatta, Engineer Sandesh Bhandari, Sub-Engineer Kiran Bhandari, Accountant Ramchandra Dhami, and Bhumi Raj Construction proprietor Man Bahadur Bohara, demanding an amount of NPR 848,962, informed CIAA Spokesperson Suresh Neupane.

The CIAA initiated an investigation following a complaint alleging that payment was made for the construction of the Bagthala Dhari Doba road in Ward No. 9 of the rural municipality without executing the gabion work and machinery work on the road.

According to the CIAA, in collusion and involvement, false bills and vouchers were prepared stating that the construction work was completed as per the work agreement for the Bagthala Dhari Doba Road (Road 2) Masonry Work (Contract No. BCRM/CW-12-2077-078), specifically concerning the construction of the irrigation canal and masonry work, including Hume pipe culverts, even though the work was not finished according to the plan.

The case was filed alleging that an inflated payment equivalent to that amount was made to the construction entrepreneur by preparing incorrect reports.

'It was found that bills related to the contract were falsely prepared, mentioning the completion of construction work as per the agreed quantity for items that were not actually constructed on-site, leading to the taking/giving of payment. Specifically, while the measurement book mentioned an irrigation canal length of 338 meters for the construction work, the field showed an irrigation canal length of 248 meters, and the Masonry work for Hume pipe culvert and other structure (14) C/S Mortar work was not visible in the field. Therefore, it was found that the defendants acted with malicious intent, completed less work in the field than mentioned in the bills and work completion reports, prepared false reports accordingly, and caused an inflated payment equivalent to that amount to be made to the construction entrepreneur,' the charge sheet filed by the CIAA stated.