Announcing its verdict in the Sudan graft scandal, the Special Court on Monday handed down two years of jail sentence to three former Inspector Generals of Nepal Police each and the agents along with hefty amount of fine.

The court slapped two-year jail sentence to former IGPs Om Bikram Rana, Hem Bahadur Gurung and Ramesh Chand Thakuri, British agent Michael Rider, whose company Assured Risks, supplied the faulty Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the Nepal Police's Sudan mission.

Rana, Gurung and Chand have been fined Rs 170.6 million, Rs 64.8 million and Rs 40 million respectively for the embezzlement in the procurement of the APCs for the police mission. Likewise, agents Rider and Bharati have been fined Rs 284 million and Rs 142 million respectively.

A bench of SC chairman Gauri Bahadur Karki and judges Om Prakash Mishra and Kedar Prasad Chalise announced the verdict after eight months of trail in the high profile corruption case.

The court gave clean-chit to 31 police officers accused of involvement in the scam.

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had dragged them to the court in June last year, accusing them of massive corruption in the purchase of APCs for the Sudan mission.

The former IGPs and agent Bharati had secured their release after paying hefty bail amount fixed by the court. Police is yet to arrest the British agent.

All serving police officers had been suspended after the anti-graft body filed cases against them. nepalnews.com