CIAA files case against former TIA Chief Immigration Officer Bhattarai, six others

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Dec. 12: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a charge sheet against former Chief Immigration Officer at  Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, along with six other individuals and two private companies,  for bribery, organised corruption and money laundering.

The charge sheet was submitted to the Special Court in Kathmandu on Thursday, demanding  that the defendants be penalised according to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059 and Asset (Money Laundering) Prevention Act, 2064.

According to the CIAA, Bhattarai, who served as Chief Immigration Officer from October 9, 2023, to May 21, 2025, abused his authority by deliberately bypassing mandatory procedures for verifying and uploading documents of passengers travelling on visit and tourist visas. 

He is accused of deliberately harassing passengers and extracting additional bribes from those seeking to travel abroad.

Investigators found that Bhattarai maintained regular contact with Bal Krishna Khadka and Dipak Bhandari, individuals with conflicting interests, and received gifts and assistance from them. 

Evidence also shows that Bhattarai visited Venoliva Restaurant, linked to Khadka, under the pretext of collecting a parcel, where he received bribe money from Ram Khadka.

Khadka and Bhandari kept detailed diaries recording the names of passengers they arranged to send abroad, their destinations and departure dates, along with coded accounts of the bribes collected. Bhattarai is alleged to have shared information about outbound visit-visa passengers with them.

The CIAA further found that Bhattarai summoned Immigration Officer Yagya Raj Aryal to his home and handed him Rs. 800,000, suspected to be part of the illegal payments. He also used a mobile SIM card registered in the name of Kavita Paudel to exchange passenger lists secretly.

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Bhattarai stored passport images of passengers on his personal laptop and kept blurred photographs of consolidated lists of certain female travellers on his mobile phone. Some of the names matched with those provided by Khadka, strengthening evidence of collusion. 

He also maintained multiple diaries showing names, destinations and coded bribe entries, and shared portions of the illicit profits with other immigration officials.

A significant amount of the bribe money was used to purchase land through land broker Khem Prasad Subedi, using Kavita Paudel’s name. 

Subedi received cash multiple times from Paudel, reportedly collecting the money only after consulting Bhattarai. 

To justify bank transactions, Paudel prepared documents of the returned advance payment of land, in consultation with Sonam Tamang.

According to CIAA, communication records between the accused were extensive. During Bhattarai’s tenure, he exchanged 858 phone calls with Paudel, 118 with Khadka, 253 with Bhandari, and 53 with Subedi. 

The CIAA found repeated message exchanges related to passenger lists, bribes, gifts and the handling of illegal funds. Paudel’s diary also contained entries confirming various payments made to Subedi.

The investigation established that Bhattarai, acting with malicious intent and in collusion with Khadka, Bhandari, Ram Khadka, Paudel and Subedi, arranged for 257 Nepali citizens to depart on visit visas in exchange for bribes. This constitutes an offence under Section 3 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059, with Bhattarai, Paudel and Subedi additionally charged with money laundering case.

The CIAA charge sheet seeks imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 7,980,000 for Tirtha Raj Bhattarai under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2059, along with confiscation of illicit gains and additional penalties under Section 24. He is also to face a penalty of Rs. 103,796,00 and imprisonment under the Asset (Money Laundering) Prevention Act, 2064.

The charge sheet also seeks punishment for former Immigration Officer Yagya Raj Aryal, demanding imprisonment and a fine equivalent to the Rs. 800,000 he received as bribe under the corruption control act, along with confiscation and recovery of the illicit amount.

The charge sheet seeks punishment for Greenline Holidays Pvt. Ltd. and its chairman, Bal Krishna Khadka, including imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 3,020,000, and confiscation/recovery of the illicit funds. It also seeks penalties against the legal entity, Greenline Holidays Pvt. Ltd., under the existing legal  provisions.

Similarly, the charge sheet seeks punishment for Family Holidays Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd. and its founder shareholder and director, Dipak Bhandari, including imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 1,060,000, and confiscation of the illicit funds, in accordance with the law.

Additionally, the legal entity Family Holidays Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd. is also sought to be penalised. 

The CIAA has also sought punishment for Ram Khadka, former founding shareholder and director of Greenline Holidays Pvt. Ltd., including imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 30,200,000, and confiscation of the illicit funds, in accordance with the law.

The charge sheet seeks punishment for Kavita Paudel, including imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 7,980,000, and confiscation of illicit funds, holding her equally liable as the principal offender under the corruption control act. She also faces a penalty of Rs. 10,379,600 and imprisonment under the money laundering act. 

The charge sheet seeks punishment for Khem Prasad Subedi, including imprisonment, fines, and confiscation of Rs. 7,980,000, holding him equally liable as the principal offender under Section 22 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Additionally, he faces a penalty of Rs. 10,379,600 and jail sentence under the money laundering act. 

According to the CIAA, it is conducting a separate investigation into alleged irregularities in visit visa departures at TIA, based on the Special Court, Kathmandu’s directive. 

The investigation focuses on former Chief Immigration Officer Bhattarai. During his tenure, out of 153,974 Nepalis travelling abroad on visit visas, 42,357, including 16,769 women, had not returned as of August 14, 2025. 

Preliminary findings indicate misuse of duplicate Passenger Name Records, collusion with travel agencies, illegal departures of Indian citizens without no-objection certificates, and facilitation of blacklisted individuals. Some Nepalis holding working visas also travelled abroad on visit visas through irregular channels.

The CIAA is also probing possible involvement of civil servants and officials, including the then Home Minister’s personal secretaries, in illegal monetary transactions connected to these irregularities.

Investigations are ongoing to determine the scale of financial gain and the extent of the officials’ involvement in facilitating these irregular travel departures.