KATHMANDU, Sept 26: During the Gen-Z movement, the houses of former Prime Ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal were set on fire, which destroyed cash stored there. An investigation has now been launched to trace the source of this money.
The government has deployed various agencies to identify the origins of the funds, an official from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
According to the official, separate investigation teams from the Department of Revenue Investigation (DoRI), the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DoMLI), and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police are working on the matter. “The concerned agencies are conducting investigations, and further action will proceed only after the reports are received,” the official added.
Currently, leaders from major political parties are under scrutiny by the DoMLI. The interim government is monitoring their activities. Although the government’s main task is to hold the House of Representatives election within six months, it has decided to investigate the suppression, violent incidents, and corruption that occurred during the Gen-Z movement in response to the movement’s demands.
Money and life
A commission has already been formed to investigate suppression, while a commission for corruption investigation is yet to be established. “The government has moved forward to investigate how political leaders accumulated wealth,” the source said.
Since no commission has yet been formed to investigate corruption, the government has begun probing the cash burned in the homes of Nepali Congress (NC) President Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Dahal. No officials from government agencies are willing to speak formally on the matter. “Some evidence collected from Deuba’s and Dahal’s homes by the DoMLI has been sent to a digital forensic lab,” the source said. The DoMLI stated that the report will be prepared only after the forensic lab produces results.
Last Sunday, a team from the DoMLI visited the homes of NC President Deuba and the leader and former Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka to record official evidence. The team, including SP Nawaratna Paudel from the department in Harihar Bhawan, reached Deuba and Khadka’s residences in Budhanilkantha to carry out documentation and collect evidence.
The team also visited Dahal’s house in Khumaltar to collect evidence. During the Gen-Z movement, protesters had set fire to their homes. Burned cash was found in all three leaders’ homes, prompting an investigation into its source.
“It is estimated that the money reaching the leaders’ homes came from contract manipulations, bribes taken in employee transfers and promotions, funds from procurement, policy-driven favors for traders, and collusion with traders and smugglers,” the Prime Minister’s Office official said.
At Deuba’s home, burned US dollars and Nepali banknotes of 1,000 and 500 denominations were found. It is claimed that there was even a tunnel for storing the money. Some money was also found at Khadka’s house, and videos of it were made public. Protesters even scattered the money found at Khadka’s home. Deuba’s secretariat, however, issued a statement denying the existence of a tunnel or money at his house.
If necessary, the DoRI may also conduct an inquiry into this matter. The CIB of the police has stated that it has started investigating all the money found burned or recovered from Deuba’s and Dahal’s homes under suspicion that it was illegally acquired.
After the Gen-Z movement, the government led by Sushila Karki has sought asset details of senior leaders from parties like the NC, CPN-UML, and Maoist Center to investigate. “Details of civil servants’ assets will be obtained from the Civil Service Registry, leaders’ assets from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and judges’ assets from the Judicial Council,” said an official from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The government is preparing to investigate the assets of political leaders who have held office after 1990 BS, including former PMs KP Sharma Oli, Deuba, Dahal, and former Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba. However, the government has not made a firm decision on the matter.
The government has already formed a commission, led by former Special Court judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, to investigate suppression and violent incidents during the Gen-Z movement.
