Kathmandu, November 10

Shambhu Bharati, an agent of a contractor company held guilty in the Sudan scam, was found to have been taken to a hotel in Lalitpur by police personnel on the pretext of conducting a health check-up at a hospital.

Bharati, an agent of Assured Risk Company, has been serving jail sentence at Dilli Bazaar Prison for sending substandard consignments to Nepal

Police team deployed in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan. Bharati, according to police, was taken to orthopaedic department of Bir Hospital. After he complained of pain in his hand, the prison had assigned Assistant Sub-inspector Prakash Dhat for taking Bharati to the hospital on November 7. But, Bharati after visiting the hospital under the watch of Dhat, went to Pulchowk based Hotel Himalaya.

It is learnt that Bharati had spent several hours inside the hotel. Deputy Inspector General Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, head of Metropolitan Police Office Rani Pokhari, said police had been investigating how long Bharati stayed at the hotel, if he had booked any rooms or met anybody there, among other issues. “Police will investigate every aspect of the incident, including why Bharati went to the hotel,” DIG Kshetri said. The MPR is responsible for security of prisons inside Kathmandu valley. MPO suspended ASI Dhat yesterday and has formed a probe committee led by Superintendent of Police Durga Singh at Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur to investigate the incident.

“We could not rule out that Dhat had allowed prisoner into the hotel, which is against the law. Further action against Dhat will be taken once the committee issues its report,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Shyam Lal Gyawali, who is also the spokesperson of MPO. According to DIG Kshetri and SSP Gyawali, the prisoner was taken to the hotel after Bir Hospital recommended him to visit Satdobato based B and B Hospital, for further treatment. Arun Pokhrel, jailer at Dilli Bazaar prison said, “The prisoner was taken to the hotel directly from the hospital after a brief check-up, where he spent around two hours before being returned to the prison.”

The Supreme Court by upholding the special court’s decision had sentenced Bharati to one-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 142 million in 2017. Bharati was on the run. But Central Investigation Bureau rearrested him on August 26, from his residence at Bhaisipati, and he has been serving his time at Dilli Bazaar prison since then.