The charge sheet filed at the Special Court has accused Bhandari of not preparing an accurate report after seizing fake Indian currency, and eventually not taking action against those involved in the racket. Bhandari has also been blamed of misappropriation of valuable goods confiscated at the airport.

In the charge sheet, the CIAA has mentioned that DIG Bhandari had taken hold of the IRs 9,25,000 for being fake, but did not file a proper case against the accused and instead pocketed the money. Bhandari is also accused of extorting Apple cell phones and recharge cards worth Rs 250,000 from service seekers at TIA.  

“Contrary to provision of anti-corruption law, he [DIG] abused his authority and extorted valuable goods seized at the airport,” CIAA Spokesperson Shreedhar Sapkota said.

The charge sheet has sought Rs 2,413,446 fine and the equivalent amount as damage for property in addition to maximum imprisonment against the DIG.

Bhandari was transferred to Police Headquarters immediately after the CIAA started investigating into the case following complaints at the anti-graft body. The CIAA later suspended him in fears of the evidences against him being destroyed.

Bhandari is one of the highest-ranking officials booked by the anti-graft body after Lokman Singh Karki took charge of the anti-graft body. In a similar incident, Joint secretary at the Higher Secondary Education Board was caught red handed while taking bribe for granting affiliation to a school. Former Director General of the Department of Health Service Mingmar Galyzen Sherpa was taken into custody for purchasing substandard drugs at an inflated price.

However, Karki’s assurance of digging into long pending corruption cases including that of the Maoist cantonment and other officers acquiring disproportionate properties some two years ago have yet to be fulfilled.

 Around 500 cases of obtaining disproportionate properties against high-profile politicians and bureaucrats are pending at the CIAA for years. The anti-graft body has nonetheless taken action against junior staffers on corruption charges.

When asked about delay in action against high-profile cases a senior officials at the CIAA said that the anti-graft was doing its best and urged the public to instead appreciate of what has been achieved so far.

“You should be well aware of our efforts. Which particular high profile case would you like to be solved?” asked the miffed official.

14 officials, 5 deans face suspension

The CIAA has directed the concerned authorities to suspend five deans along with 14 other officials of Surkhet based Mid-Western University on Tuesday. The CIAA has claimed that the individuals were allegedly involved in financial irregularities during the construction and procurement of university’s infrastructures, appointment of employees and in handling the university’s trust.

Dean of Humanities and Social Department Pitambar Dhakal, Dean of Management Department Mast Bahadur Garamja, Dean of Science and Technology Keshar Singh, Dean of Engineering Department Ram Chandra Aryal and Dean of Education Science Department Lal Mani Acharya are among the accused.

Suspension recommendation have also been filed against Auditor Kamal KC, Assistant Administrator Gagan Singh Bohora, Assistant Professor Ganesh Bahadur Rawat, Monitoring Official Parasram Giri, Senior Non-Gazetted officer Ganesh Bahadur KC, Professor Sudhan Gauli, Senior Non-Gazetted officer Jiwan Kumar Thapa, Engineer Mahesh Sharma and Senior Non-Gazetted officer Satya Thapa.

Meanwhile, the CIAA has directed the Ministry of Finance to suspend two employees of Customs Office in Biratnagar for their involvement in financial irregularities.

The CIAA has accused Customs Officer Shantiram Niraula and Senior Non-Gazetted officer Rup Kumar Pokhrel for evading taxes by making false evaluation of the goods imported through the office in collusion with the customs agents, and thereby promoting corruption, CIAA said in a press statement on Tuesday.

The CIAA said that the investigation process could be affected if the officials are allowed to continue work and thus recommended suspension as per the Clause 19, Sub-clause 3 of the CIAA Act-2048.