KATHMANDU, June 16: The District Court of Sarlahi has ordered the release on bail of Bharat Bahadur Thapa, the suspended mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi.
The bench, led by Judge Jiwan Kumar Bhandari, ordered that Thapa be released on bail of Rs 5 million. He is accused of violating the Forest Act by illegally extracting stones, gravel, and sand.
Thapa is also accused of causing damage to over 4.7 million cubic meters of forest products. Under the Forest Act, a compensation claim amounting to Rs 1.473 billion has been filed against him.
A case was filed against Bharat Thapa, the suspended mayor of Bagmati Municipality; Lila Kumari Muktan, the deputy mayor; former Chief Administrative Officer Bimal Kumar Pokharel; former Accounts Officer Bishwaraj Pokharel; engineer Sagar Paudel; and former Chief of the District Coordination Committee of Sarlahi, Methur Chaudhary.