KATHMANDU: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has refuted media reports claiming that its team raided the residence of businessman Deepak Bhatta.
Several outlets had reported that a CIB team conducted a search at Bhatta’s home in Kiran Bhawan, Sanepa, Lalitpur, on Sunday afternoon.
CIB officials clarified that no such operation took place. A bureau source told Khabarhub that the CIB had not carried out any raid at Bhatta’s residence and dismissed the reports as baseless.
The IGP Secretariat also confirmed to Khabarhub that no raids were conducted, stating that the media reports circulating on Sunday were inaccurate.
According to CIB, a group that has been disseminating misleading information about businessman Bhatta and his associates, posing as intermediaries, has launched yet another wave of propaganda.
CIB Spokesperson SSP Shiva Kumar Shrestha stated that he had no information regarding any raid. Speaking to Khabarhub, he said that he would have been notified had such an operation taken place. “I have no such information. If there had been a raid, I would have known,” he said.
Meanwhile, businessman Deepak Bhatta also denied the reports of any raid. He told Khabarhub, “I have seen fake news about me circulating in several media outlets, but none of it is true. These are the same groups that have been targeting me for months without any evidence. I have built my business over more than two decades—there are dozens of scandals and cases in this industry, yet my name has never been linked to wrongdoing.”
He added, “Some vested media outlets are helping propagate these false narratives. Despite my personal integrity, Nepal lacks strong defamation laws. If I file a complaint with the Press Council, my clarification appears in a small space that few readers see, while the fake news runs in top banners and spreads widely.”
According to him, the country needs stronger laws to protect genuine media and hold accountable those who spread falsehoods. “I always follow the rule of law, yet several vested-interest groups continue to defame me to serve someone else’s agenda,” he added.
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