The police team under inspector Bhakta Bahadur Bista had seized the foreign currency hidden in a false-bottom carved on the curved metallic sheet above the back wheels of a sports utility vehicle (Ra 1 Cha 320). [break]
But driver Gomde Tamang of Tatopani, the only person inside the vehicle, surprisingly managed to escape.
A two-member team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rajendra Thapa reached Tatopani Sunday and has taken statements from inspector Bista and locals. “The inspector would be punished if found guilty,” Chief of Bagmati Police SSP Pashupati Upadhyaya said.
Locals, however, claimed that the eyewitnesses are reluctant to speak the truth before the committee owing as they dread inspector Bista, who always bragged about his high connections during his two-year stint at Tatopani.
Eyewitnesses claimed that one Netra Bikram Poudel, apparently the owner of the vehicle, who rented it out, had reached the police post immediately after the SUV was held seeking its release.
Inspector Bista had refused to release the vehicle, the eyewitnesses said, but had let the driver escape. Inspector Bista informed Sindhupalchowk Police two hours after the vehicle was taken under control.
Inspector Bista had claimed the illegal currency was recovered on the basis of a tip-off but he couldn´t convincingly explain how the driver managed to escape during a regular checking. “We had information that the vehicle was being regularly used for illegal activities,” Bista had said.
Bista had said the driver was standing beside the vehicle but slipped away when the police were busy searching it. Other police eyewitnesses claimed Tamang escaped on a motorcycle.
Related story
Driver and co-driver killed in truck accident in Aandhikhola
