Graft slur on forest minister

KATHMANDU : Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Thursday seized a file from the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation on suspicion of corruption in relation to collecting resin in the far western region.

According to a CIAA source, Engineer Tarka Bahadur Budha, deployed by the anti-graft watchdog, took the file from the ministry following the registration of charges at the CIAA.

“The deal could be for millions of rupees as there is an indication that Minister Kiran Gurung and Secretary Udaya Raj Sharma were involved in the scam,” the source told this daily. Resin, the pine sap, is collected in huge quantity every year to be used as raw material for turpentine.

According to the source, the minister and the secretary allowed companies to harvest resin without calling a bid for the same.

CIAA Acting Chief Commissioner Lalit Bahadur Limbu confirmed the move. “The file is with us for further investigation,” Limbu said.

The CIAA had been issuing directives to the authorities concerned to follow the procedure while collecting resin in the past years, but in vain.