Nepal

Vehicle parts missing from customs office

Vehicle parts missing from customs office

By  Himalayan News Service

A car at the customs office with several parts missing, in Birgunj, on Friday. Photo: THT

BIRGUNJ, July 25 It is learnt that employees of the Birgunj Customs have been involved in theft of motor parts from the vehicles seized and handed over by the police to the office at different times. The fact came to light following a recent auction of two trucks, eight jeeps and cars and 85 motorbikes after a businessman who had won the auction complained of theft of many parts of the vehicles. The businessman has said parts including batteries, music system and the like worth over 500,000 rupees were missing from the vehicles that he had bought in auction. A source at the customs office accused customs officials Durgahang Rai and Jhalak Bahadur Shrestha of getting the motor parts stolen by Pramod Sah, who works at the customs on daily-wage basis. Information officer Sushil Sharma of the customs office, however, denied the charges that the customs officials were involved. “The allegation that the customs officials were involved in theft is baseless, as the vehicles were sold in the same condition they had arrived,” he argued. His version has however been contradicted by majority of the employees of the office itself.