Nepal’s Senior Forest Officer Caught Taking Over NPR 700,000 in Bribe
Anti-Corruption Commission arrests Purna Shankar Yadav, a senior forest official in Kailali, for allegedly accepting NPR 731,000 in bribes tied to timber permits.
Kathmandu — Nepal's anti-graft agency has arrested Purna Shankar Yadav, a senior forest officer at the Division Forest Office in Dhangadhi, Kailali, on bribery charges. Yadav was allegedly caught red-handed with NPR 731,000 in cash, according to a statement issued by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).
The CIAA said Yadav solicited the bribe from a service-seeker in exchange for timber release documents and valuation papers related to timber harvested from Gwasai Community Forest in Chure Rural Municipality–6. Acting on a tip-off, a special CIAA team from its Kanchanpur office arrested Yadav on Monday evening at his office premises.
According to CIAA spokesperson Rajendra Kumar Poudel, further investigation is underway to examine the scope of Yadav’s alleged misconduct. The arrest marks yet another high-profile anti-corruption action involving Nepal’s forestry sector, which has long faced scrutiny over illegal logging and bribery practices.