The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has directed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to suspend the Director General of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Premnath Thakur.

The spokesperson for MoCTCA, Rajendra Kumar KC, informed that the order for suspension was provided after the ministry received an audio conversation between Thakur and Thai Smile Airline’s representatives with the ‘intention of taking illegal benefits’.

Issuing a press release, KC has stated that the aviation ministry will investigate the matter with help of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Thakur has been chief of the TIA for the past three years.

Last week, the CIAA had arrested Purna Chudal, the TIA domestic terminal chief along with bribe money and imported alcohol bottles.