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KATHMANDU, June 20: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has found that in connection with the misuse of visit visas to send Nepalis abroad through a setting arrangement, there were 48 phone calls made between Joint Secretary Tirtha Raj Bhattarai and an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs within 10 days.
It has been observed that Ganesh Datt Ojha, an official working in the Administration Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs and closely associated with a member of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s secretariat, had such contact with Bhattarai, the then Chief of the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
According to the call detail records obtained by the CIAA for the investigation, Ojha called Bhattarai 26 times and Bhattarai called Ojha 22 times within 10 days. Although the Chief of the Immigration Office generally has little direct work with the Administration Division of the Home Ministry, the unusually high number of phone calls between Ojha and Bhattarai compared to other employees has led the CIAA to also monitor other officials in the Home Ministry. Notably, Joint Secretary Bhattarai has not made that many calls even to other staff within the Immigration Department.
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Joint Secretary Bhattarai has had phone contact with the department’s Director General Govind Rizal, who is Bhattarai’s departmental superior. According to CIAA sources, Bhattarai contacted Bal Krishna Khadka, the operator of Green Holidays Travel, 32 times within 10 days. Similarly, he has also been in contact with some manpower companies.
According to sources, Bhattarai had SIM cards issued under other people's names and provided them to travel agencies. He used those numbers to communicate with the agencies. Khadka would send him lists via WhatsApp, and based on those lists, the collected money was deposited by Bhattarai into a bank account under the name of Kabita Paudel. Investigations have revealed that Khagendra Subedi of Bhaktapur was also involved in handling the funds and transferring the money to individuals designated by Bhattarai.
CIAA sources stated that through Paudel and Subedi, millions of rupees were funneled into bank accounts registered under other individuals' names.
In the visit visa misuse case, although Home Minister Lekhak has responded in parliament, he has remained silent regarding the role of his subordinate staff and personal secretaries. The unnecessary contact between Joint Secretary Bhattarai, and controversial individuals associated with the minister’s secretariat has raised further suspicion. The CIAA had seized Bhattarai’s mobile phone and sent it to the digital forensic lab for analysis. The report from the lab has revealed several key findings.
The CIAA is currently investigating reports that Nepalis were being sent to countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia on visit visas through unauthorized coordination with immigration officials at the airport, with each person being illegally charged between Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. It has also come to light that individuals traveling to various European countries were charged between Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000 per person. Middlemen would send the list of such individuals to immigration officials, and based on those lists, specific immigration staff would be assigned accordingly at the airport.
Since Joint Secretary Bhattarai has been involved in controversies in the past as well, the CIAA is also investigating those who may have been protecting him. He was previously entangled in a controversy during his tenure as an Under Secretary. On February 2, 2016, he was implicated in irregularities during the procurement of tarp meant for distribution to earthquake victims. At that time, he was serving as the Local Development Officer at the District Development Committee in Kathmandu.
In that case, a lawsuit was filed against Bhattarai along with six others. However, the court acquitted him of the charges. He was also involved in controversy in 2022 (2079 BS) during his tenure as the Chief District Officer (CDO) of Morang.
