National
Cabinet fails to pick police chief
A Cabinet meeting on Thursday was scheduled to pick the names for the heads of two security agencies—Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.Anil Giri & Manish Gautam
A Cabinet meeting on Thursday was scheduled to pick the names for the heads of two security agencies—Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.
But it didn’t. Differences between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also the chairman of the CPN (Maoist Centre), Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi have been attributed to the delay in naming the new chiefs of the security agencies.
Nepal Police IG Upendra Kant Aryal and APF IG Durja Kumar Rai are retiring on Tuesday.
DIG Nawaraj Silwal, chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, is the senior most candidate to take over the Nepal Police helm while DIG Prakash Aryal, chief of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division; DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand, chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau; and DIG Bam Bahadur Bhandari, chief of the Special Bureau, also qualify for the top job. It became slightly clearer on Thursday, particularly after the Cabinet failed to pick anyone as IG Aryal’s successor, that DIG Chand will be appointed the Nepal Police chief.
PM Dahal assured the Cabinet that chiefs of the security agencies would be appointed on Sunday.
This follows an intense tug-of-war between NC President Deuba and Home Minister Nidhi, also a senior leader of the Congress party.
Deuba is learnt to have pressured Nidhi, who was for making DIG Silwal the new police chief, to pick DIG Chand. PM Dahal and Home Minister Nidhi are learnt to have wanted to let DIG Silwal lead the NP, as he is the senior most officer among the contenders. According to sources, after Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Nidhi instructed
Home Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi to prepare a proposal to appoint Chand as the new police chief. The proposal will be presented before the Cabinet on Sunday.
Home Ministry officials, citing the new developments, said Chand is almost certain to lead the Nepal Police.