Former vice-chairman of the Nepal Children’s Organization (NCO) Tulsi Narayan Shrestha, who was arrested in connection with the Bal Mandir land lease scam, has been released on personal guarantee.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had arrested Shrestha on Friday.
He was taken to the District Government Attorney Office (DGAO), Kathmandu, and his statement taken the same day.
Joint Attorney Sandesh Shrestha, chief of the DGAO, said that Shrestha was released on personal guarantee after his statement was completed.
In May, a complaint was lodged with the CIB against individuals allegedly involved in the NCO land scam.
The complaint alleged that the organization’s land was repeatedly leased for low prices between 1992 and 2015 with the intention of causing losses to the organization.
It also alleged that an agreement till 2032 was also renewed before its expiry with mala fide intent.
According to the latest agreement, nearly 29 ropanis of the organization’s land at Naxal was leased at a rate of Rs 10.9 million per year.
On May 9, the Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants for 20 individuals including Shrestha and other former office-bearers of NCO in connection with the Bal Mandir land lease scam.
Along with Shrestha, arrest warrants were also issued for NCO’s then chair Rita Singh, general secretary Ganesh Bhakta Shrestha, deputy general secretary Suman Shakya, Krishna Shankar Sah, Shyam Kumar Ale, Subash Kumar Pokharel, Manohar Gopal Shrestha, Prachanda Raj Pradhan, Ram Kaji Kone, Yogendra Bahadur Shahi and Deepak Das Shrestha.
Similarly, the court issued arrest warrants for office-bearers of Brihaspati Vidyasadan. They include Chairman Chiranjeevi Tiwari, Prabin Raj Joshi, Murari Nidhi Tiwari, Shraddha Sanghai, Purushottam Raj Joshi, Abhinav Singhaniya, Keerti Prasad Pandey and Siddharth Kedia.
