Pokhara sub-metropolis staffers protest arrest of co-worker

POKHARA, Aug 22: Staffers of the Pokhara Sub Metropolitan City on Thursday boycotted work to protest the arrest of one of their coworkers in connection with a land fraud case.



All the staffers walked out of their office rooms and went on to picket the District Police Office (DPO) of Kaski, demanding the release of Bhim Dev Sharma, ward -11 secretary of Pokhara. [break]Sharma was arrested along with seven others on Wednesday for involvement in forging documents to illegally sell a plot of land.



Last Friday, Shanta Rana, who now lives in the US, had lodged a complaint at the Kaski DPO against those who forged her citizenship and land ownership certificates to sell her 14-aana land worth about Rs 30 million, in Pokhara-6, Baidam.

• Woman Returns From US To Find Her Land Sold Fraudulantly

Acting on her complaint, police had arrested eight people including Sharma Thursday. Sharma was .the secretary of ward-6 in Pokhara when Rana´s land was illegally sold.



Although DSP Shyam Krishna Adhikari succeeded in persuading the metropolitan staffers, who were led by Gyanendra Prasad Dhakal, acting chief of the Pokhara Sub Metropolitan Office, to return to their office, they did not work at all throughout the day.



According to the police, Rana´s land was sold by one Aashmaya Lama of Nuwakot district. Lama had forged Rana´s citizenship certificate from Chitwan and land ownership certificate from Kaski by bribing government officials, say the police.

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