Kathmandu, October 5
Businessman Deepak Bhatta, held at Nakkhu jail, has been transferred to Sindhupalchok jail. Nakkhu sent Bhatta to Sindhupalchok on Saturday following a letter from the Department of Prison Management.
Bhatta was arrested and prosecuted for offences under the money laundering law, the Insurance Act and securities law. He was sent to jail over the money laundering charge.
A bench of Kathmandu District Court judge Shiva Prasad Acharya, had ordered Bhatta released on bail of Rs 15 million for the Insurance Act offence and Rs 10 million for the securities offence. But he remained in jail after the Special Court ordered him to be held in custody on the money laundering charge.
He was first sent to Dillibazar jail, considered to be a facility with better amenities. Bhatt and Sulabh Agrawal of Shankar Group were remanded in a case filed over money laundering and related offences. The case against Bhatt puts the amount involved at Rs 26.63 billion, and the case against Agrawal at Rs 25.59 billion.
Following the Special Court’s order, they were sent to jail on June 17. Dillibazar is usually the first choice of VIPs and high-ranking figures remanded in custody pending trial. They often ask the judge, through their lawyers, to be sent there.
Bhatt and Agrawal were also sent to Dillibazar, known as the jail where VIPs are held, probably at their own request. Once a person is remanded, prisoners are generally sent to the jail of their choice where possible, and Bhatt and Agrawal ended up at Dillibazar on that basis.
Within 15 days of Bhatt’s arrival at Dillibazar, however, he was transferred out. On that occasion too, he was moved to Nakkhu jail in Lalitpur after a sudden letter from the Department of Prison Management.
Bhatt was moved to Nakkhu overnight on July 4. Another VIP, Pradip Adhikari, then director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, was transferred at the same time. Adhikari was moved to Central Jail, Sundhara. Both men had chosen to go to Dillibazar.
Jail officials say prisoners are crammed into other jails, while Dillibazar has open spaces, which makes it a popular choice. They claim facilities are the same wherever a prisoner is held.
Open space, easy access for visitors and its location in the heart of Kathmandu have also made Dillibazar the jail of choice for prisoners.
Former Armed Police Force DIG Ranjan Koirala spent eight years and six months in Dillibazar after being sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of all property for murdering his wife. He was released from Dillibazar on July 23, 2020, after a Supreme Court bench of then Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana and Justice Tej Bahadur KC overturned the district court’s verdict and reduced the sentence.
Koirala was arrested again after that order was reversed and the district court’s verdict upheld. He asked, through his lawyer, to be sent to Dillibazar, but was sent to Sundhara jail instead.
Prisoners who attract controversy in custody or are reported to be pulling strings are now being moved out of Dillibazar. Koirala, who had earlier stayed there, was not given Dillibazar when he asked for it later. He was sent to Sundhara jail.
Another VIP, Pradip Adhikari, also ended up at Sundhara. Bhatt went to Sindhupalchok via Nakkhu.
Past inmates of Dillibazar include former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, former ministers Shyam Sundar Gupta and Khum Bahadur Khadka, former lawmaker Balkrishna Dhungel, former Inspectors General of Police Om Bikram Rana and Hem Bahadur Gurung, Durga Prasai and Deepak Manange.
Several VIPs are still at Dillibazar. They include former Madhesh Province chief Rajesh Ahiraj, CPN-UML leader and former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and former lawmaker Ichha Raj Tamang. Sunil Poudel, Bikal Poudel and former Civil Aviation Authority director general Sanjiv Gautam are also still there.
