The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested Min Bahadur Gurung, chairman and managing director of Bhatbhateni Supermarket, in connection with the Lalita Niwas land grab scam.

Gurung has been taken into custody to investigate his alleged involvement in the scam. He has been accused of forging government documents.

Police also arrested four the then employees of the Dillibazar land revenue office including a joint secretary in connection with the scam.

Kaladhar Deuja, the then office chief, and employees Surendraman Kapali, Dharma Prasad Gautam and Hupendra Mani KC were arrested from different places in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Although the CIB had completed its investigation and submitted its report to the Office of the Attorney General on January 6, 2022, the report was returned to the bureau recommending further investigation.

On February 5, 2020, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed corruption charges against 175 individuals in relation to a land grab in the heart of Kathmandu.

A series of media reports had pointed out just how the “land mafia” conspired with public officials to convert state property at Lalita Niwas, around the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar, into the personal assets of a number of private individuals.

Former deputy prime minister and minister for physical infrastructure and transport Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, and two former land reforms ministers Dambar Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi face corruption charges over the infamous Lalita Niwas scam.