The Central Investigation Bureau has arrested former government secretary Arjun Kumar Karki over alleged irregularities in leasing the land owned by Nepal Trust at Durbar Marg to Thamserku Trekking Pvt Ltd, a company under the Yeti Holdings group, for a period of 30 years.

Senior Superintendent of Police Shiva Kumar Shrestha, the CIB spokesperson, said that Karki was taken into custody on Sunday as part of an investigation into suspected offences relating to fraud and criminal breach of trust in connection with the lease agreement when he was secretary at the Trust.

The police arrested him after former joint secretary Lekh Bahadur Karki, who was arrested earlier this month in the same case, named former secretary Karki in the alleged corruption, according to a statement issued by SSP Shrestha on Sunday. Police acted after securing an arrest warrant from the Kathmandu District Court.

According to the CIB, evidence suggests Karki’s involvement in the decision-making process that resulted in the lease being executed so as to cause losses for the Nepal Trust, a body mandated to manage assets belonging to the former royal family. Investigators allege that the process failed to comply with due legal and procedural standards.

The arrest follows the detention of the former joint secretary, who had earlier signed the lease agreement on behalf of the Trust. Both are now under investigation for potential financial misconduct linked to the deal on the land located in a prime commercial area of the Capital.

The Nepal Trust’s board of directors had initially approved a plan to offer the Durbar Marg land—measuring approximately one ropani and 14 ana—on May 28, 2017. Nearly two years later, the Trust published a notice inviting bids to lease the property.

Police say further inquiry will be conducted based on the statements of the former officials and documents seized during the operation. The CIB stated that it will continue to probe whether more people were involved in the process and if the lease caused further losses to the Trust.