Director General of the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation Dinesh Rajauria and Director of the Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project Krishna Prasad Rijal have been presented at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers by mobilizing police.
The two officials, who were outside the Kathmandu Valley, were taken into custody by police on Thursday and brought to the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
Police sources confirmed that both officials were taken into custody on Thursday and presented at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
However, the Prime Minister’s Office has claimed that they were not arrested or detained.
According to an official at the Prime Minister’s Office, the two were summoned to clarify certain matters regarding the project's progress.
"They are currently at the Prime Minister’s Office. We called them in because we needed to inquire about a few matters," the official told Setopati. "They were not arrested, as has been reported."
The Prime Minister’s Office, however, acknowledged that police had been mobilized to locate the two officials.
According to the official, Rajauria and Rijal had previously been in contact with the Prime Minister’s Office. However, after they switched off their phones and became unreachable recently, the office wrote to the police requesting assistance in locating them.
"They were previously in contact with us. But recently, they switched off their phones and became unreachable," the source said. "We then wrote to the police asking them to find out their whereabouts."
The Prime Minister’s Office said that police located the two officials on Thursday and that they stayed at a hotel overnight before traveling to Kathmandu on Friday.
"They were found yesterday. They stayed at a hotel overnight and came to Kathmandu today. They were neither arrested nor detained," the source said.
Police sources, however, maintained that the two officials were taken into custody and presented at the Prime Minister’s Office.
It remains unclear why the officials had to be taken into custody and what specific aspects of the project's progress they have been asked to explain.
