Culprits of land scam will be punished: DPM Shrestha

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, July 8: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha has said that the land of Lalita Niwas in Baluwatar is the sole property of the government and that action will be taken against all those involved in the embezzlement of the land regardless of their position and power.

Talking to journalists on Friday morning in Lalitpur, DPM Shrestha said that the police have been clearly instructed to investigate and take action against all those who embezzled the government's property (land) based on the evidence.

From 1993 to 2013, more than 143 ropanis of the land of Lalita Niwas, which was acquired during the Panchayat period and brought to the name of the government by giving compensation, has been grabbed by the land mafia. 

“Whoever is found to be involved in embezzlement will be brought to justice,” DPM Shrestha said.

The land of Lalita Niwas complex belongs to the government and the long investigation proves this, he claimed. 

He said that the government was constantly striving to control corruption and maintain good governance. 

He expressed dissatisfaction that the Lalita Niwas case was thrown out without investigation by the authority at the initial stage and the court also decided that it was not the property of the government. He said that he was now confident that the court would look at the facts and evidence.

Mentioning that the 'commission' and the web of corruption are somehow protected by the political leadership, DPM Shrestha said that corruption cannot be eradicated without making the political sector clean. 

Repealing the budget allocation to Home Minister and Home Secretary for spy mobilization and the procedure of providing authentication services related to national identity cards containing biometric and personal details of Nepali citizens to private companies, action against loan sharks, action against the fake Bhutanese refugee and the latest reopening of the file to investigate the Lalita Niwas land by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police are some of the important steps taken by the government to maintain good governance and fight against corruption firmly and dedicatedly, claimed DPM Shrestha. 

He said that he would not take a rest in the anti-corruption campaign initiated by the government.

DPM Shrestha also acknowledged that despite the political changes in the country, corruption control and maintaining good governance have not been materialised. 

Even after such a big political change, the nation and the government still have not been able to end the compulsion of people to go abroad to raise their families.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has also been serious and urging all of us to step bold step in the corruption control to maintain good governance, DPM Shrestha said. 

He said that corruption control, promotion of good governance and social justice are the main tasks of the current government.  

He also said that there is no financial manipulation in the transfer/promotion of the police and Armed Police Force (APF). "If it is found within my own secretariat, I will quit politics forever," he said.

"Police cannot be transferred or promoted on the basis of political pressure and interference and unwanted financial activities,” he said.