KATHMANDU, April 8: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against Saroj Bhattarai, the chief planning engineer of the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), for allegedly buying land in his mother's name with bribe money.

The CIAA also implicated his mother, Janak Nandani Bhattarai, in the case brought before the Special Court on Sunday, accusing both of amassing illegal wealth.

The CIAA's charge-sheet details that Bhattarai acquired two parcels of land, measuring 2-9-0-1 and 0-2-1-0, in Gundu, in his mother's name. According to the charges, funds were transferred from Saroj’s bank account to the land seller’s account, suggesting the purchase was made with bribe money received from a construction service contractor engaged with the LDT.

Bhattarai is also accused of soliciting bribes from the construction service owner, who was under contract with the LDT, to facilitate the land purchase in his mother's name. In response to these accusations, the CIAA is seeking a penalty of Rs 8 million, along with imprisonment and additional fines against engineer Saroj Bhattarai, and has also called for the confiscation of the implicated land.

The case, filed at the Special Court in Kathmandu, demands another Rs 8 million in damages, as well as imprisonment and fines, treating Janak Nandani Bhattarai as an accomplice in the corruption case.

 
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