Kathmandu: Three government employees, including a customs officer, have been arrested on charges of taking bribes and possessing unexplained cash at a foreign mail customs unit operating under Tribhuvan International Airport’s Customs Office in Dillibazar, authorities said.
Those detained include Customs Officer Indra Neupane, office assistant Ganesh Prasad Pudasaini from the same unit, and non-gazetted officer Chhabi Prasad Rijal, who works at the parcel export section of the General Post Office.
They were taken into custody Sunday directly from their workplace by a team from Nepal’s Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The anti-graft body said the operation followed complaints and intelligence reports alleging that staff were demanding illegal payments from service users sending goods abroad through courier companies. A CIAA team was deployed from its Tangal office to carry out the raid.
During a search, investigators recovered Rs 10,000 believed to be bribe money and an additional Rs 40,350 of unexplained cash from a desk drawer in the office space used by assistant Pudasaini. A further Rs 96,070 was found on his person, bringing the total seized from him to Rs 146,420. From officer Rijal, officials recovered Rs 20,000 suspected to be bribe proceeds and Rs 18,848 of unexplained funds, totalling Rs 38,848.
In total, authorities confiscated Rs 268,288 in cash from the three employees and their work areas, along with 23 mobile phones believed to have been collected from various individuals.
CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane said all three suspects are in custody and further investigation is underway. Preliminary findings suggest the employees had been colluding to harass service seekers and extract money during the process of sending parcels overseas.
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