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KATHMANDU, May 26: The Nepali Congress (NC) has claimed that Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak is innocent in the visit visa case.
Speaking after the office-bearers' meeting held at President Sher Bahadur Deuba's residence in Budhanilkantha on Monday, party spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said that there is no basis to consider Minister Lekhak guilty. He stated that it is the court’s responsibility to determine whether an accused person is guilty or not.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by Lekhak, has been implicated in human trafficking under the guise of visit visas. Officials involved in the case include the Immigration Chief at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, and officers appointed within Lekhak’s own secretariat.
Home Minister Lekhak promises to clarify visit visa scam
According to officials from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) involved in the investigation, young men and women traveling abroad on visit visas were charged amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 300,000, which immigration staff reportedly passed up to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Some NC leaders have demanded Home Minister Lekhak’s resignation, but spokesperson Mahat said this was a misunderstanding. “Some colleagues may have asked for his resignation without fully understanding the situation. We have asked the Home Minister to clarify the matter both publicly and in Parliament,” he said.
NC rival faction leader, Dr. Shekhar Koirala, had publicly stated that the Home Minister should resign on moral grounds. The CIAA is investigating human trafficking occurring under the guise of visit visas.
In this case, the CIAA has interrogated the then-chief of the Immigration Office at TIA, Bhattarai, seized his mobile phone, and is conducting necessary investigations. Other officials at the Immigration Office are also under the CIAA’s investigation.
Bhattarai is the same official whom Lekhak transferred to TIA about two and a half months after taking charge of the Home Ministry. Lekhak is accused of ignoring complaints about the illegal collection racket operating under Bhattarai’s leadership. As soon as the CIAA began probing the matter, Lekhak pulled Bhattarai back from the airport to the ministry last Tuesday.
Spokesperson Dr. Mahat also stated that even NC leaders themselves have fallen victim to such rumors. During the meeting, Home Minister Lekhak gave a detailed explanation of the case, asserting that he had no involvement in it.
