Kavre police, following complaints made by locals, seized 45 sacks of rice and 20 sacks of beaten rice from three shops where the items were kept for sale.
The government had sent the food items to be distributed among the quake victims in Koshipari and Chaubas VDCs, situated in remote parts of the district.
"We have seized the rice and beaten rice from three shops of Gothpani, Sano Wangthali and Dhuseni Shiwalaya and arrested the shop owners," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar KC, spokesperson at District Police Office (DPO), Kavre.According to DSP KC, Gun Prasad Chaulagain and Krishna Prasad Chaulagain of Gothpani VDC-9, Indra Lama, Punju Sherpa, and Prakash Tamang of Dhuseni Shiwalaya, and Surya Bahadur Tamang and his son Bijay Lama of Chaubas VDC-7 have been arrested in connection with the defalcation of relief materials.
Police found that Jitman Lama, the son of Surya Bahadur Tamang, and Kebal Lama had brought the relief materials from Kathmandu. The 47 sacks of rice and 20 sacks of beaten rice, which were part of a consignment of relief materials sent by the government, were stored in the shop owned by Chaulagain of Gothpani VDC-9, DSP KC informed.
The government had, on May 5, sent a truck (Na 3 5613) loaded with 200 sacks of rice, 100 sacks of beaten rice, 5 sacks of salt, 200 cartons of noodles and 180 blankets in the name of District Administration Office (DAO), Kavre.
However, the relief materials were taken to Chaubas VDC without registering at the store of District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC), Dhulikhel, it is learnt.
Meanwhile, Chief District Officer (CDO) Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal said that the DAO will take action against those found involved in the illegal activity.
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