KATHMANDU, April 15: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case at the Special Court against multiple individuals, including then Lumbini Province Secretary Baikuntha Adhikari, over alleged irregularities in a cold storage construction project in Sammarimai Rural Municipality, Rupandehi.
The anti-graft body lodged the charge sheet on Wednesday after concluding that payments were made on the basis of falsified work completion reports for the under-construction facility, which was funded through a government grant.
According to the CIAA, Rs 7,197,980 was misappropriated through fake measurement reports, fabricated bills and procurement irregularities, including direct purchases made without open competition. The commission stated that the facility remains incomplete, dilapidated and unusable.
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Those named in the case include former Senior Agricultural Development Officer Shridhar Ghimire, former Agriculture Extension Officer Mukesh Ramjali Nepali, former Accounts Officer Laxman Paudel, and former Assistant Accounts Officer Ajay Mishra. The CIAA has sought imprisonment and fines equivalent to the embezzled amount.
The consultancy firm Mega Minds Architects and Structure Pvt. Ltd. and its director, Sugam Koirala, have also been charged with misappropriation of the same amount.
In addition, officials of several cooperatives involved in the project have been booked, while legal provisions have been invoked to recover the claimed amount from the spouses of deceased accused persons.
The project, with an estimated cost of Rs 543.79 million, was initiated in 2019 under a funding arrangement in which the ministry was to bear 75 percent of the cost, with the remaining 25 percent to be contributed by cooperatives.
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