A two-member team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rajendra Thapa had reached Tatopani last week and questioned the in charge, inspector Bhakta Bahadur Bista, and taken statements from locals. [break]
“We have called him to the zonal office so that he could be kept under direct vigilance while the investigations are going on,” a source at the Bagmati Police claimed. Chief of Bagmati Police SSP Pashupati Upadhyaya said inspector Bista has been called for further investigations.
The police team under inspector Bista had seized the foreign currency hidden in a false-bottom carved on the curved metallic sheet above the back wheels of the SUV (Ra 1 Cha 320). But driver Gomde Tamang of Tatopani, who was the only person inside the vehicle, had surprisingly fled.
Inspector Bista had claimed the illegal currency was recovered on the basis of a tip-off but he couldn´t convincingly explain how the driver managed to escape during a regular checking. Bista has been claiming that the driver was standing beside the SUV but slipped away while the police were busy searching the vehicle.
Eyewitnesses had claimed that Netra Bikram Poudel, who had been renting out the vehicle, had reached the police post immediately after the SUV was held seeking its release. Inspector Bista had refused to release the vehicle, the eyewitnesses said, saying everybody knew about the incident but had let the driver escape on a motorcycle.
Inspector Bista informed the Sindhupalchowk Police about the incident over two hours after the vehicle was taken under control.
The investigation team is currently preparing its report and Inspector Lokhari Dhakal from Sindhupalchowk Police Office has been sent to take over the charge of the Tatopani post. Meanwhile, police sources claimed that the Bagmati Police has come under pressure from police headquarters to give clean chit to inspector Bista.
Also, sources claimed that the police have yet to initiate investigations into the SUV owner Poudel, chairman of Bhairabkunda Youth Club, Tatopani, for operating an illegal vehicle.
The stolen vehicle that was auctioned by Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office on July 22 has not been legally registered anywhere. Poudel has claimed that the vehicle owned by his nephew had been contracted to driver Tamang on a monthly rent of Rs 40,000.
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