KATHMANDU, Dec 18: The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has recommended to the government to suspend Armed Police Force (APF) chief Kosh Raj Onta and three other APF officers from their posts in order to investigate their alleged involvement in financial irregularities and corruption while transporting arms, ammunition and other logistics to various APF units across the country.
The CIAA move is the result of a complaint registered with it on 14th August 2014 (registration number 4780) against long-controversial APF chief Onta for his alleged involvement in embezzling over Rs 90 million through the use of forged bills and other related documents.
The CIAA on Thursday wrote to the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), the Home Ministry and the APF head office to suspend APF chief Onta, DSPs Suman Jung Thapa and Ram Krishna Maharjan and Inspector Bin Bahadur Thapa, with immediate effect. The upcoming cabinet meeting is likely to decide on the recommended suspensions.
According to the anti-graft body's preliminary investigations, the APF officials were found directly involved in irregularities and corruption while distributing logistics procured for the security agency. Of the latter three officials, Thapa was associated with the store department and the other two were with the accounts section.
“We have asked the government to suspend them immediately as their continuation in their posts might result in the destruction or hiding of evidence relating to the case, thereby hindering further investigations,” Bhawani Subedi, press advisor to CIAA Chief Commissioner Lok Man Singh Karki, told Republica.
Subedi said that preliminary investigations led the anti-graft body to suspect that APF chief Onta and the three others had embezzled around Rs 90 million under the head of transporting logistics such as uniforms, arms and ammunition and batons.
“A preliminary investigation has proved that they were involved in the embezzlement of a large amount of money through a purported contract with a company, Sadajyoti Suppliers, which exists on paper only, and the producing of fake bills to show the supply of goods in unusually higher quantities than the real quantity,” said Subedi.
A source close to APF claimed that the transport bill for the supply of logistics to Attaria in Kailali district from Kathmandu was Rs 80,000 while a separate bill for transporting logistics from Attaria to Mahendranagar of Kanchanpur was Rs 95,000, which was unusually high as Kanchanpur and Kailali are adjoining districts in Far-West Nepal. The source also claimed that he was shown bills for supplying 20 truck loads of logistics while in reality the supply was effected in 10 trucks. The transportation was part of the supply of logistics purchased in fiscal years 2012-13 and 2013-14 to APF units across the country.
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A press statement issued by the CIAA stated that it had begun probing the alleged irregularities after complaints were registered with it.
APF chief Onta is also accused of involvement in siphoning off money to foreign countries through illegal channels such as hundi and investing money earned through such channels in the financial sector under the names of relatives.
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Also, several senior officers including retired AIGPs Rishavdev Bhattarai and Thakurman Shrestha had earlier registered complaints against Onta's non-transparent working style. “They retired without ever mending their relations with Onta,” said a highly placed official.
Meanwhile, DIG Pushpa Ram KC, spokesperson of APF, said that they had no official information about the recommented suspensions and so could not
comment.
