KATHMANDU, March 16: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has summoned State Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Laxman Mehta to submit on Friday his statement over the bribe-taking incident involving his personal assistant Nagendra Prasad Yadav.
Yadav is currently in the custody of CIAA as he was arrested red-handed while accepting bribes from the people of Mugu on March 1. [break]
According to a CIAA source, the constitutional anti-graft body summoned the state minister on the basis of statements submitted by Yadav, Mehta´s driver and other available evidences that indicate possible involvement of the minister in bribe-taking.
The source said CIAA officials suspected the state minister´s involvement in bribe-taking as Yadav had used the former´s vehicle while going to collect the bribe.
Besides, the CIAA had obtained a recorded conversation between Yadav and one Khadga Bahadur Shahi, in which the minister is heard asking Shahi to talk to his personal assistant to see the file related to compensation to Mugu people cleared.
Yadav had sought bribe from 72 families affected by the expansion of the Rara National Park.
The state minister had sent the file to Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Mohammud Owkil Musalman for approval following the arrest of his personal assistant. This has also led the CIAA investigators to suspect involvement of the state minister in the bribe-taking, said the source.