CA members riding stolen vehicles: Cops

ANKIT ADHIKARI

KATHMANDU, JUN 12

Close on the heels of reports that a former Additional Inspector General (AIG) had been using a stolen vehicle, the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) on Friday said it has seized “illegal” four-wheelers from two Constituent Assembly (CA) members.

Police said documents of vehicles being used by Aatmaram Shah of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of UCPN (Maoist) are found to be fake.

“While the blue-book of the Bolero SUV (Ja 1 Cha 671) has been registered in the name of Shah’s personal assistant Mohammad Nabil Babu Dewan, some other documents of the vehicle are in Shah’s name,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bibhuti Raj Pandey of the MTPD said.  “As we investigated the case further, we discovered that all the documents related to the vehicle were fake,” he added.

Police said investigations have revealed that another vehicle (Lu 1 Cha 227) being used by Rayamajhi is illegal. The vehicle has been sent to the customs office for further investigation. However, both the leaders said on Friday that the two vehicles don’t belong to them. “I don’t have a car; I never owned one,” Shah said.

Rayamjhi also denied the charges and said he never bought the vehicle in question. However, the traffic police say the duo may have bought the vehicles without knowing that they were illegal.

“The leaders have made a mistake by buying vehicles with forged documents,” said a senior traffic police officer, seeking anonymity. 

Traffic police investigations have revealed that most Maoist cadres, politicians and newly-established businessmen have been using these cheap vehicles. Interestingly, the traffic police have not brought the duo and former AIG Shrestha to justice.


Published in The Kathmandu Post -- June 13