The probe conducted by the District Forest Office found Rs 15.89 million was misused. Following the revelation, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has begun investigation. [break]
Forest users had suspected irregularities when closed session was not held at the 12th annual general meeting of the committee. "Suspicion arose when they did not hold a closed session where financial reports would be presented and passed," said Jangabahadur Bhandari, a forest user.
However, according to the committee chairman, Bharat Kunwar, they did not intend not to hold a closed session. "We were thinking about holding the session after a few days," he said.
After the closed session was not held, 368 forest users out of the total 601, filed a complaint with the District Forest Office, which then investigated into the case. The committee´s annual income is around Rs 10 million.
We found that over Rs 15 million earned from selling timber was not mentioned in accounts, said Tara Kunwar, a probe committee member. He added that the misused amount might be even bigger as they were yet to check the accounts for development expenditure.
District Forest Officer of Chitwan Indra Sapkota said CIAA too is investigating the case and action will be taken on the basis of CIAA´s report.
Related story
Tree house and fishing in Yalambar
