Specialised bureaus of police waiting to have own buildings

 Kathmandu, July 15: Nepal Police has four specialised bureaus – Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Anti Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB) and Cyber Bureau – established to tackle specific crimes. 

Among the four bureaus, only the CIB, which was established in 2009, has its own building in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.

Other three bureaus have been operating from rented houses.  The NCB was established on June 6, 1992, as Narcotics Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU). It was upgraded as NCB on Nov 29, 2012.

However, the bureau associated with narcotics has not been able to operate from its own building for the past three decades. The bureau also has nine satellite stations across the country – and all of them lack their own offices.

"We have more than 100 officers and a four-storey rented house to operate from. It is not easy," said Superintendent of Police (SP) Jeevan Kumar Shrestha, spokesperson for the NCB. 

Until June, 2018, there were only two bureaus of Nepal Police – CIB and NCB. It was on June 10, 201, that a cabinet decided to establish two more bureaus under Nepal Police.

The cabinet meeting had decided to form AHTB and Cyber Bureau. The two new bureaus and their roles were listed in the Police Code, 2071, during its seventh amendment on September 30, 2019.

"We have been operating as per the responsibilities given by the law and with the resources we have. The resources are, however, inadequate because we don’t have a well-equipped building of our own," said SP Dan Bahadur Malla of the AHTB.

The AHTB has been operating from the building of Law Books Management Board in Babar Mahal, Kathmandu, since May 12, 2019. 

According to SP Malla, the AHTB gets informed about every case related to human trafficking from police units across the country, while the bureau helps in the investigation as needed.  

"We have eight rooms in total to conduct our operations. When perpetrators are arrested, we sometimes lack enough space to keep them under custody. We have to use prison of nearby police offices in such cases. We don’t even have one room to conduct interrogation properly," said SP Malla. There are more than 80 officers in the AHTB.

While the CIB is the only one with its own building, Cyber Bureau is also expected to have a separate building within next six years.

Last week, the cabinet decided to accept grant assistance of USD 8 million from the government of South Korea to upgrade the capability of the Cyber Bureau.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dhiraj Pratap Singh and officials from Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) met at the Nepal Police Headquarters on Tuesday to discuss the project further.

"KOICA officials and their technical experts had visited our Cyber Bureau at Bhotahiti, Kathmandu. They also analysed our crime rates and modus operandi in digital sector. It was our second meeting," said Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Tek Prasad Rai.

DIGP Rai, who is also the central spokesperson for Nepal Police, added that a building will be constructed at Samakhusi for the Cyber Bureau under the support from South Korea. The Cyber Bureau will be equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructures. 

However, DIGP Rai, who is also the former chief of AHTB, stressed that several such initiations were needed to strengthen country's internal security. "The bureaus are tasked separately but they can work effectively when together or in close proximity. We have always sought common premise where all bureaus would have their own offices. At least, Cyber Bureau will have a proper building soon," said DIGP Rai.

Cyber Bureau officers informed that they look forward to having a proper building and necessary infrastructure to upgrade their working style and tackle digital crime in a more effective way.

Officers from the bureaus also said that they could have worked effectively if they were nearby.

"Human trafficking is organised crime and has networks outside the country for which CIB can help. The internet is also becoming a challenge against human trafficking for which Cyber Bureau can help," said SP Malla.

NCB spokesperson SP Shrestha also stressed that a common building or a premise for all the bureaus would be more effective. 

Talking to The Rising Nepal, DIGP Rai said that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) was informed about the plan several times, but to no avail.

"Process to construct the buildings for the bureaus is our priority. However, it has not been listed in the upcoming fiscal year's budget and programmes. Once the design for the building of Cyber Bureau gets fixed, we will take further steps," said Pradip Kumar Koirala, joint-secretary at the MoHA.

"The new building for the Cyber Bureau to be constructed under the grant from South Korea could accommodate another bureau as well. It is not certain yet," said Koirala, who is the officiating spokesperson for MoHA.