Nepal

Kathmandu, August 12

The high-level commission formed to investigate cases of land-grab and misuse of public land across the country has collected just over 120 complaints, which, the commission members say, is less than what they expected.

Of the total complaints received by the commission, most are related to grabbing or misuse of public land in the three districts of Kathmandu valley. Moreover, most of these cases are related to encroachment of government-owned, public and guthi land. The complaints involve grab and misuse of land areas ranging from a few annas to 200 ropanis.

The commission that began formal operations on June 3 has begun investigation the cases. A meeting of the Cabinet on May 20 had decided to form the all-powerful high-level commission led by Mohan Raman Bhattarai. Bhattarai said a few complaints were related to land-grab cases sub-judice in the courts, while others had already been settled through Supreme Court decisions. &The commission can do nothing about cases already finalised by the Supreme Court,& he said. &We are, however, studying the complaints.&

The commission relies on complaints filed by individuals, information fed by individuals and news reports. It has also issued a circular to all local levels, district administration offices and consumer committees to inform about cases of grabbing and misuse of public land.

The commission members said although complaints and information were coming in gradually every day, the number was less than what they expected considering the scale of media reportage.

Janaki Ballav Adhikari, a member of the commission, said this trend might be because of threat and intimidation involved in cases related to large-scale grab and misuse of public land, costs involved in reaching the commission for filing complaints, and confusion among people, among others.

&On the other hand, people seem to be on a wait and-see mode before the finalisation of the Baluwatar land-grab case,& Adhikari said.

A government-formed committee has concluded that 113 ropani public land in Baluwatar area was transferred in the names individuals illegally. It was revealed that an eight-anna plot within the embezzled land area was registered in the name of son of Bishnu Poudel, general secretary of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). The matter is presently being investigated by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police.

Adhikari said since the commission had been mandated to submit its investigation report within six months and complaints were still coming in sporadically, they would soon submit a midterm report to the government of cases finalised so far.

&Even though the number of complaints is less than what we expected, the existing number is enough for the commission to work on given the resources available,& he said.

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KATHMANDU:Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has returned home today from Singapore after his health check-up.

PM Oli had gone to Singapore on August 3 accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya and other team members.

The Prime Minister, after returning back, tweeted about his health condition and thanked those who showed concern:

सिंगापुरमा स्वास्थ्य परिक्षण गरी आज फर्किएको छु। मेरो स्वास्थ्य सामान्य रहेको छ। परिक्षणमा संलग्न सबै चिकित्सकप्रति आभार व्यक्त गर्दछु। मेरो स्वास्थ्य स्थितिप्रति चासो राखी चिन्ता व्यक्त गर्ने तथा स्वास्थ्यलाभको कामना गर्नु हुने सवै दिदीबहिनी-दाजुभाईहरूलाई धन्यवाद दिन चाहन्छु।

— K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) August 12, 2019

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Kathmandu, August 11

The Office of the Attorney General plans to make protection of victims and witnesses, and continuous hearing in cases involving women and children more effective. Making public its 29-point programmes for this fiscal that began in mid-July, Attorney General Agni Kharel said his office planned to make government attorneys pro-victims.

The office has been running campaigns named ‘Hello Witness& and ‘Continuous Hearing& for over two years now. Kharel said the programmes had helped encourage witnesses to attend the court, while ensuring speedy justice delivery.

&We will make the programmes more effective this year,& he said. The OAG will revise the directives related to protection of victims and witnesses, and activate the Victim Protection Recommendation Committee.

This fiscal, the OAG plans to facilitate adoption of laws related to services of government attorneys, and conduct an organisation and management survey of district attorney offices. The office plans to make 252 hiring in the next three years.

The office also plans to promote seven district attorney offices in each of the seven provinces as model offices. The seven offices are Jhapa of Province-1, Bara of Province-2, Dhading of Province-3, Tanahun of Gandaki Province, Banke of Province-5, Jumla of Karnali Province, and Darchula of Sudurpaschim Province. The office also plans to run training programmes for government attorneys in specialised areas such as cybercrime, organised crime, revenue and public property protection.

The OAG will conduct monitoring of prisons and facilitate improvement of prison conditions. &I must say our jails are overcrowded, and condition there is not good,& said Kharel.

The office will also expand the number of child correction centres.

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Kathmandu, August 12

Mani Niraula, an education consultancy owner charged with swindling over Rs 11 million from at least 13 people aspiring to go to Australia, has surrendered to the police.

Niraula, operator of Queensland Education Foundation at Putalisadak, was collecting a sum ranging from Rs 500,000 to Rs 2.4 million from each youngster aspiring to go to Australia on dependent or tourist visa for the last two years.

&Niraula was collecting money from us by showing the picture of a girl named Rejina Hamal of Nepalgunj, who has obtained a visa to study in Australia,& said Amrit Raj Giri, 22, of Bhulvu Rural Municipality, Kavre, who has paid Rs 1.6 million to Niraula to apply for dependant visa to migrate to Australia. Giri was told he would have to perform &fake marriage& with Hamal to apply for dependent visa and file for a divorce upon reaching Australia.

At least three other people, who have given a total of Rs 2.6 million to Niraula, told THT that they were also shown the picture of the same girl and told the same thing about &fake marriage&. These three youngsters, as well as Giri, had handed over the money after communicating with Hamal on social media. &But I lost touch with Niraula and Hamal after handing over the money,& said Giri. Hamal could not be contacted.

At least 20 people, mostly youngsters accompanied by their parents, who were duped by Niraula, had gathered at Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar, today, seeking help to get their money back. Niraula is said to have duped up to 40 people mostly below the age of 25.

Niraula is also found to have used the picture of a boy to dupe girls aspiring to go to Australia. &I was shown a picture of a boy who I was told was a permanent resident of Australia,& a 20-something from Kanchanpur told THT on condition of anonymity. She had handed over Rs 500,000 to Niraula.

Niraula used to issue a cheque of the same amount that his clients deposited at his office to &win the confidence and substantiate he was not involved in unethical business&, according to victims. But victims who were duped by Niraula could not encash those cheques, as they were dud.

Around 13 of Niraulaclients have submitted an FIR at Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar, seeking his arrest but the police are yet to register the FIR.

&The FIR lacks certain details like full address of the accused and evidence of fraud,& Deputy Superintendent of Police Kaushal Budhathoki, who heads the police circle at Singha Durbar, said.

Budhathoki said police had rounded up Niraula after he sought security by dialling 100. The Education Consultancy Association Nepal, the umbrella body of education consultancies in Nepal, has scrapped the membership of Niraulafirm.

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