KATHMANDU, Feb 16: Former police officer Hom Bahadur Bagale made newspaper headlines in March 2006 by charging top officers at Nepal Police Headquarters with torturing him inside the office. He rushed to a media house with a partly shaven head and clothes drenched in mud. He was arrested from Kantipur Publications Office and later charged with public offense for making fake allegations against senior officers. [break]This time, Bagale was arrested from Citizenship Section at the Ministry of Home Affairs Sunday afternoon. He was held at the ministry for a while and then handed over to Singha Durbar Police Office for further investigation. He was arrested in connection with forging signature of a Home Ministry official, according to Home Ministry Spokesperson Nabin Ghimire.
Bagale had been frequenting the ministry as a middleman helping people with important documents -- citizenship certificates, no objection letters etc. But Sunday’s visit proved doom for him. Bagale went to the very official whose signature he had forged seeking his authorization for a citizenship renouncement certificate for Parvati Gurung of Gorkha district.
Gurung is applying for temporary British citizenship after renouncing Nepali citizenship.
When Kamal Raj Bhandari, section officer at the Citizenship Section at the Ministry found his signature forged, he immediately informed his senior Narendra Raj Sharma and demanded investigation. Police were called immediately.
“When an officer notices his own signature forged, he can seek investigation on the matter,” said Spokesperson Ghimire.
A Home Ministry official said officials suspect that Bagale had also in the past submitted some documents at the citizenship section with forged signature of Under-Secretary Ganesh Rai, who used to work in the section.It is still unclear whether Bagale himself prepared the forged documents or someone else helped him. It will be known once Bagale makes his statement,” said the officer.
Bagale, was sacked from police service in 2006 allegedly for stealing gold belonging to a senior officer from Tribhuvan International Airport. But Nepal Police has not made the reason for his sacking public. For the past few months, he has been visiting the ministry demanding his reinstatement in police job.
Last time, when he accused senior police officers of torturing him in custody, various rights groups including the Amnesty International had expressed concern.
yuvraj@myrepublica.com
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