Kathmandu, December 26
Deep Basnyat, the former head of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority,
has been held incommunicado for the past several days as the Nepal Police's Central
Investigation Bureau has accelerated its investigation into the infamous Baluwatar/Lalita Niwas
land fraud.
Basnyat has gone to India under the guise of a health examination, according to CIB officials
who have been tracking him. Since the CIB detained Ram Kumar Subedi, one of the accused in
the fraud that has been the country's biggest corruption case in the last decade, he has been
out of communication.
According to the sources, the CIB has already acquired a warrant to arrest Basnyat, who has
been charged with corruption in the case.
Basnyat was placed in judicial prison on December 14, 2020, by the Special Court, pending the
outcome of one of the most high-profile corruption cases in recent memory. On May 7, 2021,
the Supreme Court released him on bail.
Basnyat was one of 175 people charged by the commission with embezzlement in connection
with the transfer of various pieces of land in Kathmandu's Baluwatar district to individuals'
identities. He was lured to the issue because of his previous position as secretary of the
Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, which he held before joining the CIAA.
By Karuna Thapa
