Director General of Department of Passports Tirtharaj Aryal in Custody of CIAA

Kathmandu. Director General of the Department of Passports Tirtharaj Aryal is currently in the custody of the CIAA. A high-level source has confirmed that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has handed him over to the CIAA for investigation.

Aryal was summoned to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at 10 AM on Monday. He was asked to bring the file related to the passport purchase case. Chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Prem Kumar Rai, reached the Prime Minister's Office around 12 PM.

After officials from the Prime Minister's Office and investigation officers from the Commission studied the file throughout the day, Aryal was handed over to the CIAA yesterday evening, a high-ranking official from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers told Ratopati.

Around 9 PM, security personnel working at the CIAA arrested Aryal and Sunil Kumar KC, Information Technology Director of the Department of Passports, and took them away. The CIAA is reportedly investigating irregularities in the passport purchase.