Several major case files have been found looted in a planned manner from two government attorney offices located in Maitighar.
According to a preliminary study conducted by Nepal Police and the Office of the Attorney General, arson and looting targeted specific case files.
Just across from Maitighar Mandala, two separate government attorney offices are housed within the same building.
From the Special Government Attorney’s Office, the corruption case file of the Tax Settlement Commission has gone missing.
At the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, files related to the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative fraud case and the violent incident in Tinkune last March were destroyed by fire. Other documents and files at the District Office were also burned.
“We haven’t suffered much other damage, but the corruption case file of the Tax Settlement Commission has been deliberately taken,” a source from the Special Government Attorney’s Office said. “It is quite surprising that no other files were touched, only that particular one was removed.”
The case involves former Director General of the Inland Revenue Department and then Member Secretary of the Tax Settlement Commission, Chudamani Sharma, among others.
From the District Government Attorney’s Office, the file of the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative fraud case in Kalimati, Kathmandu, has gone missing. Former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, along with several others, was charged in this case.
In addition, the file related to the violent incident that took place in Tinkune on March 28 has also disappeared. The case involved charges against Durga Prasai, Dhawal Shumsher Jabara, Rabindra Mishra, among others.
“In Kathmandu, files of many other cases have also been burned,” a source from the Office of the Attorney General said. “Among them are cases related to cooperative fraud and offenses against the state.”
A few years ago, the Office of the Attorney General had divided the same building into two offices: the District Government Attorney’s Office on the right side and the Special Government Attorney’s Office on the left. The Special Government Attorney’s Office handles corruption and related cases.
During the Gen Z movement, several courts including the Supreme Court were set on fire. From the government attorney offices official documents and computer hard drives were stolen.
“The cabinets containing files were not damaged, nor were other nearby files touched. Only files related to certain individuals were deliberately removed,” said a source from the Special Government Attorney’s Office.
Officials of the Tax Settlement Commission who had been convicted by the Special Court had appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, ruling that their cases were decided without following due process, had sent the files back to the Special Court for rehearing.
In the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative fraud case, former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane had been released on bail. In the Supreme Cooperative case, he was detained only after an order from the Butwal bench of the High Court. In the Tinkune violent incident case, all politically affiliated accused had been released on bail.
Government officials suspect that the files may have been deliberately disappeared by taking advantage of the protests.
Sources say Prime Minister Sushila Karki and cabinet ministers believe those who infiltrated the protests to break out of jail, vandalize courts and government offices, and steal official documents must be immediately punished.
