Twelve Arrested for Tampering with Public Procurement Bids

Ratopati May 03, 2026

Twelve Arrested for Tampering with Public Procurement Bids

Kathmandu. Twelve people, including the operators of 'A' class construction companies, are in custody on charges of illegally accessing the Public Procurement Monitoring Office's website 'bolpatra.com.np' and tampering with bid details. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and Cyber Bureau of Police are investigating former minister and Kalika Construction Company operator Bikram Pandey, along with other construction entrepreneurs.

Along with former minister Pandey, another construction entrepreneur Prakash Dhungana is also in custody. Dhungana, arrested on Baisakh 13, is the operator of Kalpavriksha Builders Pvt. Ltd. Police investigation has revealed that Dhungana's company paid Rs 4 million in 'bribe' to an individual in exchange for awarding the contract after hacking the website.

It has been found that Dhungana's company secured the contract for the Bancharedanda area, where waste management for the Kathmandu Valley takes place, by tampering with the details. Police investigation concludes that Kalpavriksha illegally obtained the contract to expand the height of the reinforced soil retaining wall of the Bancharedanda Sanitary Landfill Site. An official involved in the investigation told Ratopati that Dhungana paid Rs 4 million to a second person for awarding the contract after tampering with the details. An official involved in the investigation said, 'It has been revealed during the investigation that Dhungana made a payment of Rs 4 million; we are investigating the recipient of the amount.'

Investigators have not disclosed whether the recipient is a government employee or a hacker.

Pandey's company, Kalika Construction, a company owned by Bikram Pandey, Vice-Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and former minister, was found to have tampered with the details of the Bagmati bridge contract on the Pathlaiya section of the Mahendra Highway. An official involved in the investigation told Ratopati that after the technical proposal was passed using Kalika Construction's bidder ID in the Bagmati bridge contract in Pathlaiya, Bara, the bid's discount percentage was tampered with before opening the financial proposal.

Pandey, who became the Minister of Urban Development in 2079 BS, was arrested on Baisakh 11. Police investigation concludes that after viewing all competitors' documents by hacking the bidding system, the discount percentage was tampered with. Nicholas Pandey, president of the Federation of Contractors' Associations of Nepal, is Bikram's son. Nicholas, recently elected president, is the executive director of Kalika Construction.

Ashish Nirman Sewa is suspected of 'collusion' in the KUKL contract. Police are investigating Ashish Nirman Sewa on suspicion of tampering with details in three packages for laying pipes for the Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Limited (KUKL). Police are investigating the operator of Ashish Nirman Sewa, Rishikesh Gouli, in custody.

The involvement of government employees is evident in hacking the website to secure contracts. CIB's investigation concludes that Dibakar Deuja, a Nayab Subba at the Urban Development and Building Construction Office, Dhankuta, was involved in tampering with bid details. Deuja, 33, from Pakhribas Municipality-5, Dhankuta, was arrested by CIB a month ago. CIB officials said that he coordinated between contractors and hackers to secure contracts and receive commissions. The official said, 'Deuja's role is seen in tampering with the bid details.'

Deuja was previously arrested in 2077 BS for embezzling funds through a top-up system by hacking the Telecom server. This is his second arrest for a similar offense.

CIB and Cyber Bureau teams are investigating the offense of tampering with bid details by hacking the bidding system. CIB's AIG Dr. Manoj KC told Ratopati that the accused are being investigated under organized crime and the Electronic Transactions Act 2063. He said, 'We are looking into whether the bid details were altered by hacking or through employee collusion.'

Twelve Arrested

So far, 12 people have been arrested on charges of illegally accessing the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO)'s bidding system and tampering with bid details. Dibakar Deuja, from Pakhribas Municipality-5, Dhankuta, Dharat Dhami from Bajhang, Sanjay Bhatt from Tanahu, Bhaskar Raj Aryal from Kathmandu-33, Sagar Katuwal from Hetauda, and Jeevan Kumar Das from Sunsari were arrested in the first phase.

After that, former minister Vikram Pandey and Bhishan Construction operator Tank Kumar Shrestha were arrested. CIB is investigating Amrit Bohora, operator of Chapur Nirman Sewa, Swadesh Pokharel, shareholder of Incon Pvt. Ltd., and Prakash Dhungana, operator of Kalpavriksha Builders Pvt. Ltd., after arresting them. Rishikesh Gouli, operator of Ashish Nirman Sewa, is also in police custody.