Sarvesh Joshi, chairman of Smart Cell, has been arrested.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Shiva Kumar Shrestha of the Central Investigation Bureau, Joshi was arrested on Monday on charges of fraud and criminal breach of trust.
Police apprehended him from Khursanitar in Kathmandu.
Joshi had obtained a license for basic telephone service from the Nepal Telecommunications Authority on April 15, 2013, to operate Smart Cell.
However, after failing to renew the license, it was automatically canceled from April 16, 2023.
Following the cancellation, all assets of Smart Cell – including telecommunications infrastructure, structures, systems, and networks – were taken under control by the authority.
Joshi is now accused of committing fraud and criminal breach of trust by acting dishonestly with the intent to deprive the government of its rightful ownership of those assets.