South Asian News Network

Kathmandu, May 13: A police team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested Jyoti Prakash Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Investment Mega Bank, from Sindhuli on charges of auctioning off government property illegally. Pandey has been held on charges of participating in the auction process by violating government rights over the assets of Smart Telecom when the Nepal Telecommunications Authority has taken the private sector Smart Telecom’s entire assets, telecommunications infrastructure, telecommunications system, and telecommunications network under its control. According to the Bureau’s spokesperson Shiva Kumar Shrestha, it has been revealed from the investigation that Chief Executive Officer Pandey participated in the auction process as the chairman of the ‘Loan Recovery Committee’. Pandey, who was fleeing after switching off his mobile phone, was arrested during a vehicle check at Kamalamai Municipality–6 with the assistance of a police team dispatched from the District Police Office Sindhuli. The Smart Telecom’s licence was automatically cancelled on April 16, 2023 as it did not renew it. According to the Telecommunications Service Provider Property Management Regulations, 2079, the Authority took control of the property. —