Former Koshi minister Adhikari cleared; 11 charged with forgery, human trafficking

KATHMANDU: The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, filed charges against 11 individuals in a human trafficking case on Monday after failing to establish former Koshi Province Minister Lillaballav Adhikari’s involvement.

Police investigated the involvement of Adhikari in the case by keeping him in custody for 16 days but failed to establish his involvement in the case. He will now be released from custody.

Ramu Sharma, the registrar of Kathmandu District Court, said the defendants will be tried under the National Criminal Procedure (Code) Act, 2017 for human trafficking and forgery charges.
Since the defendants have been found to have forged government documents to produce fake identification cards of the Karnali Province Government, the prosecutors are seeking maximum punishment for them.

District Government Attorney Office, Kathmandu, registered a case against Janak Rai, Dawa Sherpa, Kanchan Devkota, Mahesh Pandey, Jugal Rijal, Bir Bahadur Sunuwar, Gudi Rai, Nabin Rai, Diwakar Babu Bhattarai, Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, and Yograj Gautam aka Gopal. Since Diwakar Babu, Bishnu Prasad and Gopal are on the run, they have been charged in absentia.

Adhikari traveled to Japan to attend a program without obtaining the required approval from the federal government. He informed police that he alerted Japanese immigration authorities after two other Nepalis approached him, claiming that they were members of his delegation. These individuals carried identification cards issued by the Koshi Province Government bearing, what appeared to be, Adhikari’s signature.

Police have confirmed that the signature on these identification cards was indeed forged.