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Minister of Land Management Balram Adhikari has said that the audio of him claiming to have received a bribe of Rs. 32 lakh to arrange and register 134 ropani land at Batulechaur in Pokhara is not related to him and the ministry.
At a press conference held on Thursday to publicize the achievement of one year in the ministry, the minister claimed that the audio was brought out to assassinate his character. So far, the people who have spoken and expressed in this audio are not related to us. It is clear from the audio whether I have spoken or not, said the minister. The minister also claims that there is an attempt to assassinate his character based on rumours.
An audio has been released in which it is claimed that a bribe of 32 lakh rupees was accepted for registration of 134 ropani land in Batulechaur of Pokhara. In the audio that was released on Wednesday, it is claimed that the official took the bribe in the minister's quarter through the intermediary Sujan Lama, who is also a local leader of the UML. In the audio, it is said that the minister's son Manoj, the then secretary of the Ministry of Land Management Arjun Pokharel was also involved in the bribe transaction and 'setting'.
It is mentioned in the audio of the dialogue between the middleman Lama and various people that the then secretary Pokharel accepted a bribe of five lakhs. The voices of the people who are said to have accepted the bribe are not heard in the audio. In the audio, the middleman Lama has also said that 1.5 million was spent on bribes taken by the then Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta, Land Management Minister Adhikari, Secretary Pokharel, etc. In the
audio, Lama is heard saying that Land Management Minister Adhikari found the money in the zebra's bag through Ramchandra Adhikari, the head of the Land Port Office Kaski. Lama can be heard saying in the audio, ``Ramchandra was given 32 lakh rupees 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 might not have hidden it in the corner of the minister's quarter.' In his place, Bhagwati Neupane, a member of the National Assembly, has taken charge of the minister.
