Suspended NRB Governor taken into custody
The Special Court Thursday ordered the police to detain suspended Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Bijay Nath Bhattarai until tomorrow’s hearing on the corruption case filed against him by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The order came from a three-member bench of judges Bhup Dhoj Adhikari, Komal Nath Sharma and Cholendra SJB Rana after it interrogated Bhattarai in connection with the graft charge. Bhattarai had reached the court at around 10:30 am to record his statement.
Police took him into custody from the court premises as soon as the court order came.
On Monday, the bench had asked Bhattarai to appear before the court within 15 days. On the same day, the bench released co-accused Surendra Man Pradhan, the executive director of the bank's Financial Institutions Regulation Department, on bail of Rs 50,000.
Bhattarai and Pradhan have been accused of embezzling Rs 24.5 million in terminating a contract of a foreign company in the multi-million dollar Financial Sector Reforms Programme launched with foreign aid.
The CIAA had filed the graft case against the NRB bosses on June 28. nepalnews.com mk/ia July 05 07
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