A corruption case has been filed against seven people, including Joint Secretary to the government Tirtha Raj Bhattarai and the then Immigration Officer of Tribhuvan Airport Yagya Raj Aryal, in the visit visa case. The CIAA also filed a case against three people, including Bhattarai, for money laundering on Thursday.

According to the CIAA's co-spokesperson Ganesh Bahadur Adhikari, a demand has been made for a fine of Rs 7.98 million, a fine of the same amount and a prison sentence of 6 to 8 years against Bhattarai, who has been made the main defendant. An additional 3-year prison sentence has also been demanded for him as the head of the office.

Aryal has been demanded for a fine of Rs 8 million, a fine of the same amount and a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years. Similarly, a demand has been made for a fine of Rs 3.20 million against the defendant Greenline Holidays Travel's head Balkrishna Khadka and a demand has been made for a fine of Rs 3.20 million against Ram Khadka, the owner of Family Holidays Travels, as an accomplice, a fine of Rs 3.20 million, a fine of the same amount and a prison sentence of 4 to 6 years against Ram Khadka, the owner of Family Holidays Travels.

A demand has been made for a fine of Rs 1.06 million against Family Holidays Travels' owner Deepak Bhandari and a fine of the same amount and a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years against him. A demand has been made for a fine of Rs 7.98 million each against the middlemen duo Kavita Poudel and Khem Prasad Subedi. They have been demanded to pay the amount, a fine equal to the amount, and imprisonment for 6 to 8 years. 

The Authority has filed a money laundering case against Joint Secretaries Bhattarai, Poudel, and Subedi for laundering the money received from the gang in the visit visa case, demanding recovery of the amount at the rate of 13.79 million rupees, an equal fine, and imprisonment for 8 to 10 years. Bhattarai is accused of laundering the illegally acquired property through Poudel and Subedi.

The Authority has stated that a separate investigation is underway against the then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and the then Home Secretary Gokarnamani Duwadi, including high-ranking officials, in the visit visa case. The charge sheet filed in the special court states that a case has been filed against 7 people in the first phase for the crime of extorting money from people going on visit visas, and further investigation is underway against other officials.

‘In the context of the diary received with Tirtharaj Bhattarai’s application and the CDR details received from the telecom, it has been revealed that the then Home Minister (Ramesh Lekhak) had unnatural contacts with Badri Prasad Tiwari, the then Home Secretary, the Home Minister’s Secretariat, the Director General of the Immigration Department, the then Chief of the Peace and Security Division, Branch Chiefs and other public servants are being investigated separately,’ the CIAA chargesheet states. 

According to the chargesheet filed in the court, it has been revealed that Bhattarai had sent 257 people abroad by collecting money from travel agency operators. It has been found that he collected Rs 40,000 each from 142 women and Rs 20,000 each from 115 men and sent them to countries in Asia and the Middle East. The CIAA has filed a case against seven people by setting the amount collected from the people sent in this way as the amount. 

The CIAA has also stated that Bhattarai's unusual contact and interaction with the gang and the middlemen has been observed. 'It has been confirmed that 257 Nepalis were sent abroad on visit visas through Balkrishna Khadka, Deepak Bhandari, Ram Khadka, and that Kabita Poudel and Khem Prasad Subedi also acted as accomplices in the said bribery/competition transactions,' the chargesheet filed by the CIAA states.

According to the CIAA, during the period of his duty, Bhattarai, the then Chief Immigration Officer of the airport, had made 858 phone calls to Poudel, 118 to Khadka, 253 to Bhandari, and 53 to Subedi. It has also been found that Bhattarai had exchanged 'messages' repeatedly with the travel agency operator regarding taking notes of passenger lists and accepting bribes/compliments and gifts, and with Kabita Poudel regarding mobilizing the money received as bribes/compliments. The CIAA also recovered evidence from Bhattarai's diary that contained code words used to collect money from those traveling on visit visas. 

When Bhattarai was the airport immigration chief, 153,974 people flew from Nepal on visit visas. Of these, 23,249 went to the UAE, 7,161 to Oman, and 2,719 to Qatar. Of these, 16,769 were women. The CIAA's charge sheet states that there is no record of the passengers returning to Nepal for a long time and their current condition is not clear. Bhattarai was the airport immigration chief from 23 Asoj 2081 to 7 Jestha. 

The CIAA had increased surveillance on the then airport chief immigration officer, 

Joint Secretary Bhattarai, after a complaint was received about the collection of money from passengers traveling on visit visas through the airport. In the meantime, on 7 Jestha, the CIAA took Bhattarai into custody and started an investigation. On the same day, the CIAA had taken into custody Khem Prasad Subedi of Bhaktapur and CIT College employee Kavita Poudel and Hattisar-based Greenland Holidays Travel operator Bal Krishna Khadka. They were released on the same date, subject to their appearance when called. 

The CIAA had also brought two other travel agents and immigration officer Yagyaraj Aryal under investigation. The CIAA has taken the case to court after completing the first phase of the investigation. 

According to the charge sheet filed by the CIAA, it has been revealed that the travel agency employees were opening a smuggling line through the airport through Bhattarai and his family members. For this, it has been found that they were giving gifts to Bhattarai's wife, buying goods for her, and buying mobile phones for people they knew. 

‘In accordance with the instructions issued regarding the documents required for traveling abroad on visit and tourist visas, all the documents to be submitted at the time of departure on the basis of which the passengers are required to upload and record them in the immigration system, it has been confirmed that the Nepalis going abroad on visit visas were being harassed and harassed by taking additional money as bribes and having regular contact, meetings, receiving gifts, and purchasing mobile phones and other items with people who conflicted with their responsibilities,’ the CIAA charge sheet states.

According to the CIAA, it has also been revealed that Bhattarai called Aryal, an immigration officer working in the administration branch of his office, at his home and gave him Rs 800,000. Bhattarai used to obtain the names of passengers going abroad on visit visas through various means through people from travel agencies. He would record the names, destination country, and departure date in a diary and keep a record of the account in a symbolic manner.

The investigation has also revealed that Bhattarai took bribes and distributed them among immigration officers and purchased land in the name of Kavita Poudel through Khem Prasad Subedi, who is also a land dealer. The CIAA has also found that Subedi repeatedly took cash from Poudel and used to ask Bhattarai when he went to collect the money. 

After Bhattarai was arrested on 7th Jestha, demands for an investigation against the then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and Secretary Gokarnamani Duwadi were raised from the House to the streets. This case had disrupted the House for a long time. Demands for an impartial investigation were immediately raised saying that people from the political level were also involved in it. The KP Sharma Oli-led Council of Ministers had formed a task force on 2nd Asad under the leadership of former Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi to identify problems and make suggestions for reforming the immigration administration. The task force has already submitted its report to the government. 

After the standards were tightened and it was seen that Nepalis going on visit visas were being extorted under various pretexts, the standards were revised based on a decision of the Home Minister on 13 Kartik. The new standards have a provision that a valid passport with a validity of 6 months, a visa of the relevant country for the destination country, an air ticket to the destination country, and a ‘self-declaration’ to bear all the risks of the trip are sufficient for going on a visit visa. The Immigration Department had also issued an internal circular that if the immigration desk officer at the airport causes unnecessary harassment and torture to the passengers even with the prescribed documents, action would be taken against them. 

The then Home Minister Balkrishna Khand had said in Falgun 2078 that a person should have an annual taxable income of Rs. 5 lakh to go on a visit visa, half of which 

They had issued 17-point criteria, including having a bank account, having visited the Gulf twice and once outside the country, having passed 12th standard, being able to speak English, being sponsored by someone from abroad or invited by relatives, having to provide a document proving the relationship, and otherwise mentioning the details of the sponsor.

Due to the stringent provisions, there was a demand for an amendment to this after the gangs' 'setting' increased on visit visas. The police had launched a special 'operation' focused on immigration in Bhadra 2080. At that time, there was a situation of hand-to-hand combat between the police and the employees. After that, the employees, including the then head of immigration, Gogan Hamal, submitted a memorandum to the Home Ministry demanding action against the police and stopping unnecessary interrogations of them.