Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary Pushparaj Bhattarai arrested for passport misuse
KATHMANDU:- Pushpa Raj Bhattarai, a 56-year-old Joint Secretary serving at the Labour Migration and Nepali Diaspora Coordination Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singhadurbar, Kathmandu, has been arrested.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anupam Shamsher Jb. Rana, spokesperson for the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police Headquarters, Bhattarai was arrested for an offense under the Passport Act.
Pushpa Raj Bhattarai, a Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for issuing the travel documents in question, was arrested during the investigation into passport-related offenses. His arrest followed inquiries prompted by suspicions regarding the nationality of individuals who had appeared at the German Embassy in Kathmandu with these travel documents for visa purposes; the Embassy had subsequently forwarded five original copies of the documents for investigation via a letter dated Jestha 20, 2068 BS.
Following an investigation into the alleged offense, a charge sheet was filed against Bhattarai—who was serving as a Section Officer at the Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time—by the District Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, at the Kathmandu District Court on Shrawan 11, 2083, naming him as a defendant.
According to the police, he was arrested on Monday and produced before the Kathmandu District Court in Babarmahal.
