KATHMANDU: Nirmal Bista, an employee of the Home Ministry, has been arrested for pressuring officials to allow individuals to travel abroad on visit visas, citing the names of the Home Minister and Home Secretary.
Bista allegedly claimed to have discussed the matter with Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, his secretariat, and Home Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal.
He pressured Suresh Panthi, the chief immigration officer at Tribhuvan International Airport, not to stop 20 individuals traveling to a third country via Thailand on July 5 (Friday).
Chief Immigration Officer Panthi refused to comply and reported the incident to the ministry, exposing Bista’s actions.
Following the discovery of his involvement in the illegal facilitation of sending people abroad on visit visas, Home Secretary Aryal dismissed Bista from service on July 9 (Tuesday).
Bista was arrested at the Home Ministry premises while attempting to delay the proceedings.
The ministry has handed him over to the police for further investigation on suspicion of illegal human trafficking.
The Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau has taken Bista into custody.
He had been serving as a computer operator at the Home Ministry since 2018.
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