An audio clip has been made public alleging that Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation Balaram Adhikari took a bribe of Rs 3.2 million.
The audio clip claims that Minister Adhikari accepted the bribe in exchange for facilitating the registration of 134 ropanis of land in Batulechaur, Pokhara.
Earlier, another audio clip had surfaced alleging a Rs 2.5 million bribe for appointing the chair of the Land Commission in Kaski and Rs 5.3 million for halting the transfer of the then-chief of the Land Revenue Office, Kaski.
Following the release of that audio, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajkumar Gupta resigned from his post. In that audio, too, Minister Adhikari was alleged to have already taken money.
Minister Adhikari’s son Manoj Adhikari and the then-secretary of the ministry, Arjun Pokharel, have also been linked to the Rs 3.2 million bribe in the latest audio clip.
However, Minister Adhikari held a press conference at the ministry on Thursday, denying that the audio was his and claiming it was an attempt to defame his character.
“It should be identified whether the people mentioned in the audio are connected to the ministry or me. Those who speak in the audio are not associated with us. You can clearly hear whether I spoke in that audio or not," said Minister Adhikari. "Apparently even my son has been linked, this is an attempt to assassinate my character."
He further said that some individuals had approached him seeking the transfer of Pokhara land revenue officer in Pokhara, but he refused their request.
