The Kathmandu District Court has ordered Bhatbhateni Supermarket owner Min Bahadur Gurung to be released on bail in the Baluwatar land grab case.
A bench of Judge Bholanath Dhakal on Sunday issued the order to release Gurung and 16 other accused on bail, according to the court’s registrar Kaushaleshwar Gyawali.
Bail hearing in the case concluded on Sunday.
The court has sought a bail amount of Rs 24.6 million from Gurung; Rs 1.5 million each from the then chief of Dillibazar Land Revenue Office Kaladhar Deuja and the then assistant accountant of Samarjung Company Binod Prasad Paudel; and Rs 750,000 each from the then director general of the Department of Land Reforms and Management Rudra Kumar Shrestha, the then senior divisional engineer at the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction Bal Krishna Shrestha, the then chief of Samarjung Company Lok Hari Ghimire, the then surveyor at the Dillibazar Survey Office Ghaman Kumar Karki, the then employees at the Dillibazar Land Revenue Office Gopal Karki, Yograj Paudel, Narayan Raj Mishra, and the then surveyor at the Maitidevi Survey Office Arun Kumar Shrestha.
Similarly, the court has sought Rs 330,000 each from the then ward secretary of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-4 Shivaji Bhattarai and the then survey officer Dhruba Prasad Aryal; and Rs 110,000 each from Babu Raja Maharjan, Dev Narayan Maharjan, Sakalananda Maharjan and Sanjay Kumar Maharjan.
Keshav Tuladhar has been released on general date.
The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu had filed a case of government document forgery at the court on August 27.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had made 289 individuals defendants in the case. It had also mentioned 21 other defendants who have already died.
