Though it has been more than a week since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Parliament Secretariat gained clear information about the scandal, the case has not yet been handed over to Nepal Police for further action. [break]
Harischandra Ghimire, assistant spokesman at MOFA, said the ministry had been discussing how to refer the matter to police after initial investigations. “It is to be channeled either by MOFA or the Parliament Secretariat.”
The Parliament Secretariat, however, negates the idea of it referring the case to the police. “This is not our job. As the case concerns passports, MOFA is to take over. Since lawmakers are involved, we will help the investigations with necessary information”, said Mukunda Sharma, spokesman of the Parliament Secretary.
Meanwhile, police officials wonder at the delay in dispensing with the case. “We do not know why this case has not yet reached us,” said an official at the investigation and litigation section at Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK). MOFA had handed over a good deal of passport-related cases concerning civilians and foreign nationals to MPRK over a period of one-and-a-half years.
Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPFD) has been dealing with the case to some extent after Shah lodged a complaint requesting action against a passport racketeer. “Her complaint itself is mysterious. Yet we hope to unearth important facts if we succeed in nabbing the racketeer,” said one official. “Nepal Police can sort this out if the case is forwarded by MOFA, which has conducted the basic investigation.”
“We put a question mark on how Shah knowingly entrusted her passport to a racketeer,” officials said.
Deliberate misuse
MOFA investigations have found that the diplomatic passports of Shah and Yadav were used to fly two persons towards Australia last month but they were turned back from Abu Dhabi.
The discovery of fake visa notes prepared in the names of Shah and Yadav has added mystery to the high-profile scam.
The most striking thing is that Shah, who belongs to the Nepali Janata Dal, and Yadav of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum had also made available their citizenship certificates and CA identity cards together with their passports for the forgery, officials said, adding that it smacks of big money changing hands. “The lawmakers´ documents were tampered with -- the photos changed, -- to obtain visas for others,” officials said.
MoFA had started its investigation following the return from Abu Dhabi of Prithivi Chantyal, who had used Yadav´s passport (019893), and an unidentified woman traveling on Shah´s passport (019826).
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