Pokhara, March 3

District Court Kaski has slapped at least six persons with jail sentence and fine for their alleged involvement in selling others’ land by producing fake documents around two-and-a-half years ago, on Tuesday.

A single bench of district judge Narishwor Bhandari gave the verdict to this effect, as per court registrar Dina Bandhu Baral.

Krishna Bahadur Shrestha has been slapped with six-year jail term along with Rs 4.5 lakh fine whereas Anita Sharma has been slapped with one-year jail term and Rs 4.5 lakh fine.

Then District Land Revenue Officer Keshav Bhattarai and staffers Laxmi Poudel and Khem Narayan Poudel also have been slapped one-month imprisonment and Rs 4.5 lakh fine.

Similarly, Deep Bahadur Koirala, ward secretary of Pokhara sub-metropolitan city has been given 6-month jail term and Rs 4.5 lakh fine for helping the accused to produce fake citizenship certificate.

As many as 10 persons, including Pokhara sub-metropolitan city officer Kalpana Baral, have got clean chits.

Alleged Krishna Bahadur and Anita had been remanded to custody for the past 27 months for illegally selling the house of Ranga Prasad Shrestha at Jalparoad, Pokhara-8.

The perpetrator had produced a fake citizenship certificate in Ranga Prasad’s name while selling it to Ratna Bahadur Khatri of Tilahar Parbat in October 2014. However, the mastermind behind the plan is still on the run.

According to land revenue records, Ranga Prasad had purchased the land in 1990. A land swindling racket had used Krishna Bahadur as the owner, who didn’t stay in Nepal and Anita had supported him.

Though they had sold the 11-anna land for Rs 9.5 million, it has shown Rs 2.7 million in the office record. After he came to know that he had been cheated, the new owner Ratna Bahadur had returned the land to the real owner in November 2014.

Pokhara sub-metropolitan city ward-8 office had recommended Krishna Prasad instead of Ranga Prasad as owner of the land by pasting the former’s photograph in place of the latter.

Six witnesses at the time of report preparations also had been drawn into the case.