July 3: Three more individuals were arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police in relation to the Lalita Niwas land-grab scam on Sunday. 

The arrested individuals include Shivaji Bhattarai, who was the secretary of ward no. 4 of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) in 2060 BS and currently serves as an officer at the KMC Cooperatives Department.

Additionally, the then staffers at the Survey Office, Ghaman Kumar Karki, and Baburaja Maharajn, who posed as fake tenants, were also arrested, according to Kuber Kadayat, Spokesperson and DIG of the Nepal Police.

The arrests were made on the charge of forging government documents to fraudulently acquire the Lalita Niwas land.

This brings the total number of people taken into custody by the CIB in connection with the infamous land-grabbing scam to seven. Previously, four individuals were arrested, and their remand has been extended by the court.

Lalita Niwas, a public property in Baluwatar, saw multiple individuals acquiring ownership of the land between 2049 BS and 2069 BS through illegal means. (RSS)