AIG Manoj KC has become the 34th Inspector General of Nepal Police after the government relieved Dan Bahadur Karki of his duties.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet decided to promote AIG Manoj KC, head of the Crime Investigation Department, to IGP.
Karki’s tenure was due to run until April 9, 2028. The government has transferred him to the post of the Prime Minister’s special security adviser and appointed KC as IGP.
The government has removed an IGP before. In 1997, it removed Achyut Krishna Kharel as IGP and transferred him to the National Investigation Department. Kharel never reported there. He went to the Supreme Court, arguing that he had been transferred to a post that did not exist.
The government made Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan IGP in his place. After winning his case in the Supreme Court, Kharel became IGP again. The government then transferred Pradhan to the post of the Prime Minister’s special security adviser.
The government also moved Ramesh Chand Thakuri to the security adviser post. At the time, it said it was doing so because he was implicated in the Sudan scandal. Rabindra Pratap Shah was then made IGP in his place.
KC, the new IGP, is from the same batch as Karki. Both joined the police as inspectors on April 10, 1998.
KC was promoted to DSP on December 11, 2009 and to SP on August 3, 2017 BS. He became an SSP on July 19, 2022, a DIG on May 26, 2024 and an AIG on April 24, 2025.
When he was promoted to AIG, he ranked third. Karki, who has now been moved to the security adviser post, was first, and Rajan Adhikari was second. By putting Karki in the adviser’s post, the government bypassed even the second-ranked Adhikari and made KC the IGP.
KC rose to prominence for leading the investigation, as head of the Crime Investigation Office, into the fraud in which Nepali citizens were taken to the United States posing as Bhutanese refugees. By coincidence, while KC led that investigation, the case’s prosecution side was handled by Karki, who has now been removed as IGP.
KC holds a PhD in conflict transformation from Panñāsāstra University of Cambodia. He also has a master’s in applied conflict transformation studies from the same university, a master’s in sociology from Tribhuvan University and a master’s in public administration from Tribhuvan University.
KC is the founding director of the Police Staff College, the first of its kind in Nepal Police. While at the Police Academy, he developed the curriculum for a master’s programme in police science.
He has commanded the police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Crime Investigation Department, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, the District Police Office in Rupandehi and several other districts.
Before joining the CIB, KC worked in the Provincial Coordination Department at police headquarters. As DIG, he worked in the Special Bureau and at the Police Academy. As SSP, he was moved from the Crime Investigation Office to the Women, Children and Senior Citizens Directorate at headquarters.
At the CIB, he led investigations into fake helicopter rescue scams in tourist areas, the Smart Telecom fraud, securities and insurance fraud, cryptocurrency crimes, and the encroachment and misappropriation of government land.
He also has experience on UN missions, having served as a security officer in the UN missions in Kosovo and Haiti. KC is fluent in French and Spanish.
He has written two books, Enhancing Policing Nepal and Identifying Effective Measures to Combat Organised Crime in Post–Conflict Nepal
