The Deputy Secretary of the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA), has been arrested by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) while accepting a bribe of Rs. 6 lakhs.
According to the commission, the Deputy Secretary, Pramod Nepal, demanded 6 lakh rupees from the service recipient for providing permission letter and license for paragliding operation. The CIAA arrested the Deputy Secretary with the bribe money while the transaction was happening at a hotel in Naxal, Kathmandu.
“After he was arrested red-handed, we interrogated him and searched his car, where an additional 16.5 lakh rupees was found,” Shyam Prasad Bhandari, the spokesperson of the CIAA said.
“It has not been revealed where, why and who gave that amount. We suspect that Deputy Secretary Nepal may have taken a bribe with another team and kept it in the vehicle before making a bribe deal with the team that complained to us,” added Bhandari.
With the additional seized amount by the commission from vehicle, the total amount makes 22.5 lakhs.
Spokesperson Bhandari said that further investigation is being done regarding the incident and the team is now collecting documents and evidence.