Kathmandu, December 28

The government attorney filed charge sheet today against the KL Dugar Group on two separate cases of fraud and black-marketing at the Kathmandu District Court.

Altogether 11 people have been accused in these cases and the hearing will begin from tomorrow, according to Dhruba Kumar Upreti, registrar at the Kathmandu District Court.

The prosecutor has filed charge sheet based on the report of the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. The police has claimed Rs 140 million as amount in question and recommended five years of imprisonment of the accused in the case of black-marketing, according to Bikram Singh Thapa, senior superintendent of police at Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. There is also a provision of five-year imprisonment if the fraud charge is proved.

The KL Dugar Group will have to face two cases on fraud and black-marketing simultaneously. However, if the court does not issue its verdict in the first hearing, the two detained Dugar employees could be released on bail until the court issues a verdict.

KL Dugar Group’s Chairman Kishan Lal Dugar; Vice Chairman Naresh Dugar; Managing Directors Kumud Dugar, Vikas Dugar, Dharamchand Dugar, Pradeep Kumar Chhajed; Manager Aman Jauthan; Accountants Chandika Prasad Kushwaha, Ramakant Pari, Gautam Dugar; and Liaison Officer Pramod Raj Adhikari have been named as defendants in both the cases.

Police will present the two employees of KL Dugar Group before the court for hearing tomorrow. Manager Jauthan and Liaison Officer Adhikari were arrested from the warehouse of Swastik Oil Industries when the police had conducted a raid on December 3. Swastik Oil is a flagship business of KL Dugar Group.

The remand period extended by the Kathmandu District Court to detain the two Dugar employees is going to expire at midnight tomorrow. Even as the arrest warrant has already been issued against the accused chairman, vice chairman and managing directors and accountants of KL Dugar Group, all of them are still at large and the police are said to be on the lookout for them.

Police are said to have collected ‘indisputable evidences’ through interrogation and based on the seized documents from the company office. Following the raid on the warehouse of Swastik Oil Industries located at Jadibuti of Kathmandu and five trucks laden with edible oil were impounded, the police had also raided the company’s factories located in Bara, Biratnagar and Nepalgunj to collect the evidences.

Managing Directors Dharamchand and Chhajed represent Saurabh Foods Pvt Ltd Birgunj and Saurabh Oil Pvt Ltd Banke, respectively. The KL Dugar Group produces soybean, hydrogenated vegetable, sunflower and palm olein oil under the brand names of Swastik, Dhara and Bigul.

The five trucks impounded by the police were loaded with edible oil that the firm was planning to sell at Rs 320 per litre — double the price during normal times. Swastik Oil Industries had started raising the price of edible oil all of a sudden when the market began witnessing shortage of edible oil due to disruptions in supply of daily essentials from India.