The forum filed complaints against board of directors and STC´s General Manager Urmila Shrestha, Divisional Manager of Business Department Pankaj Joshi and Divisional Manager of Kathmandu Zonal Office Bhagwati Rana.[break]
“We filed cases against the STC officials after our study concluded that the state-controlled supplier sold 50,000 tons of sugar purchased at Rs 52-55 per kg at a higher price of Rs 76 per kg,” Jyoti Baniya, general secretary of the forum, said. “STC raised the price in an artificial way to make additional profit of Rs 1 billion.”
The forum has filed a case against STC officials at Metropolitan Police Range on charge of black marketing, at Department of Commerce for carrying out inappropriate activity and at Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for abuse of authority.
“Our investigation showed that STC sold sugar at cheaper price in the beginning. It later raised the price which benefited dealers and dented its income,” said Baniya.
According to the forum, STC sold 2,100 quintals of sugar to BK Traders at Rs 6,270 per quintal. Two days later, it fixed sugar price at Rs 6,900 per quintal which benefited the dealer.
“We filed cases against the wrongdoing officials after the government and other concerned authorizes showed indifference to punish them despite our repeated requests,” said Baniya.
The forum has also urged the concerned agencies to investigate the irregularities at STC and bring the culprits to book.
Though the Department of Commerce (DoC) had investigated the issue and submitted its report to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, the ministry has not initiated any action on the report.
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