Vikram Pandey released on bail in government procurement hacking case

Kathmandu – Vikram Pandey, head of Kalika Construction and a leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) as well as a former minister, has been released on a bail of four lakh rupees. He was arrested on charges of hacking into government procurement competitions.

The bench of Chief Judge Churaman Khadka at the Kathmandu District Court ordered the release on bail of 12 out of 22 individuals charged, including employees and directors of various construction companies.

The Kathmandu District Court stated that 10 individuals have been sent to custody for further investigation.

The Public Procurement Monitoring Office had initiated an investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the police after unauthorized access was established in government procurement processes, leading to alterations in contract details.

The district court ordered the release on bail of construction entrepreneur Prakash Dhungana for four lakh rupees, Amrit Bohora for four lakh rupees, Sanjay Bhatt for ten lakh rupees, Jeevan Kumar Das for five lakh rupees, and Sagar Katuwal for five lakh rupees.

Similarly, Anil Shrestha, Bhaskar Raj Aryal, Tank Kumar Shrestha, Swadesh Pokharel, and Rishikesh Gauli were ordered to be released on bail of four lakh rupees each.

According to the police, among the defendants, Niranjan Khanal, Saroj Dahal, Shanta Kumar Shrestha, Krishna Bahadur Khatri, Jyoti Subedi, Sujan Adhikari, Bharat Dhami, Indra Bahadur Bohora, Rahul Jung Karki, and Narayan Prasad Sitik are absconding.