Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: A team from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has begun erecting fences on government land in Lalita Niwas at Baluwatar, Kathmandu.
Chief of the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police, SP Raju Pandey, stated that the team will begin the fencing work by erecting fences on the open land near the Non-Resident Nepalis Association (NRNA) office.
The KMC has announced that it will also stop ongoing construction work in the area.
Police have arrested four individuals, including the chairman of Bhat-Bhateni Super Market Min Bahadur Gurung, in connection with their investigation into the Lalita Niwas land grab scam.
The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has charged 175 individuals involved in the land grab. The case against them is currently sub judice at the Special Court.
What is the Lalita Niwas scam?
Following the royal coup of 1960, the government seized a portion of Nepali Congress (NC) leader Subarna Shamsher Rana’s property in Lalita Niwas. However, it also acquired a significant portion of Rana’s land by compensating him accordingly. Government buildings such as the Prime Minister’s residence and Nepal Rastra Bank were subsequently constructed on the land.
After the political change in 1990, land plots in Lalita Niwas were illegally transferred to different individuals in the pretext of returning the land seized from NC leader Rana to his family members. Fake tenants were created to facilitate the transfer of land ownership.
