”After Ramchandra Adhikari was transferred, he had brought two or three people to hand him over.”
What you should know
Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Balram Adhikari has admitted that the middleman Sujan Lama met him after the transfer of the then Head of the Land Port Office of Kaski. Lama had claimed to have met ministerial officials in the latest public audio in the case of bribery dealing.
Answering a question from Kantipur about when and in what context he met Sujan Lama at the press conference held on Thursday in the ministry, the minister admitted that the meeting was about the transfer of the head of the customs office.
'Since when did I meet Suzan Lama that he has raised things (in audio) . When the staff was transferred, after the transfer of Ramchandra Adhikari, he brought two or three people who said that he had to be suspended,' the Minister Adhikari said, recalling what happened in the meeting with Lama, 'I clearly said that the transferred staff should not be suspended . It is a matter of being transferred from the staff process, it means that they come and go.'
The Minister said that the meeting took place during the transfer of the head of the Malport Office and not during the appointment of the Kaski chairman of the Land Problem Solution Commission.
Minister Adhikari claimed that the discussion was not about the appointment of Khem Bahadur Pun as the Chairman of the Land Problem Solution Commission, but about the transfer of the head of the Land Port Office.
The name of the Minister Adhikari was also mentioned in the first audio of the conversation of the then General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta, Mediator Lama and Chairman and MP Ranjita Shrestha of Civil Liberation Party. In the second audio, the intermediate lama mentioned the conversation he had with the ministerial officer .
I had a meeting with the land minister yesterday. Why didn't you come earlier? I only heard your name Sujan brother, you are close to all my brothers, you are like my family, why didn't you come to meet me first? The minister told me in front of Anil Marasini that if you had taken the stand of Khem Pun or Khem Pun, if you had said this five days ago, I would have done it to Khem Pun,'' Lama said in the audio.
Did you call Lama a family man? In response to the question, the minister said that he said that word after saying that he was familiar with the same place and family. He said, "I know your brother when he came, the village is here, and after saying this, he said that there was no meeting at all." Collectively, it should be on our side. It would have been if he had come first . He said with his team,' said the Minister Adhikari more clearly about what happened in the meeting with Lama.
The Minister said that the chief officer of the Malport Office may have come to meet him after promising that he would do the work of Lama. Who has done what? The minister said that he did not know that. The ministerial officer claims that he was involved in that case after his interests were not fulfilled.
The minister has objected to linking his ministry and his son to bribery. He also said that he has nothing to do with people who speak on public audio. It has been said that the minister has done corruption. My son's name is also . There is an attempt to assassinate my character. After I did not accept what I said, they tried to assassinate me and my family's character to fulfill their ambition,' he said.
The middleman Lama said in the audio that Manoj, the son of a minister who lives in New Zealand, came to Nepal and was involved in the 'setting' of the bribe. It is said that he came to Nepal after his father became a minister. It is said in the audio that a middleman group including Prakash Dahal, Aryan Sharma and others influenced Minister Adhikari and his son Manoj when they reached Pokhara and transferred the head of the Customs Office, Ramchandra Adhikari, by manipulating money. Ramchandra was transferred from Kaski to Lamjung.
It is also said in the audio that Ramchandra Adhikari, the head of the goods office, reached the minister's quarter in Lalitpur and handed over 32 lakhs to the minister. ``Rs 32 lakhs were given to Ramchandra in a zebra bag, noting all the note numbers. He took it and explained it. I will make the trust to Manoj. Manoj is a friend, Manoj confirmed, said yes. I know that Ramachandra explained it because I myself was on the bike. Sent him in, I was out. He came empty from the minister's quarters. He must not have hidden it in the corridors of the minister's quarters,'' Lama is heard saying in the audio. The minister said that all these are accusations made after he did not do his work.
It has been claimed in the audio that Arjun Pokharel, the then secretary of the Ministry of Lands, also took a bribe of five lakh rupees. The minister said that he was not aware of that.
The minister also said that he is open to investigating the bribery case. However, in response to the question whether he will resign from the post or not, he said, 'Depending on someone's accusation, if tomorrow I say that so-and-so did this and that, then who will be left here .'
The official said that the position of minister is not obtained forever . Also, the official said that there is a consensus to reorganize the Council of Ministers within a year of the formation of the government in the ruling coalition. According to the same agreement, he signaled the end of his tenure.
In Pokhara, an audio was released in which then Minister Gupta, Land Minister Adhikari and other secretaries were involved in accepting bribes for bringing 135 ropani land in the name of individuals. The authority has also started an investigation in this regard . In this case, Minister Rajkumar Gupta has resigned.
