KATHMANDU, May 23: Officials have stayed quiet about people being forced to pay bribes at the immigration office of Nepal’s main international airport. Immigration officials have been taking money from travelers, saying it is for top leaders like the Prime Minister, the home minister, and the anti-corruption body, CIAA. This has been going on for years and has even helped human traffickers. Yet, the authorities have done little to stop it.
The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Home Affairs have both failed to take the initiative to stop human trafficking at the immigration office. The Home Ministry has repeatedly deployed individuals with questionable credentials to key positions. In particular, the Home Minister and his secretariat have handpicked officials for immigration postings, including at the main international airport, TIA.
Officials must pay a fixed rate based on their rank to the Home Minister's secretariat to secure a posting at the airport immigration office. "Staff in the minister's secretariat only approve transfers for those who agree to the rates they set," said an employee at the Ministry of Home Affairs. According to the employee, personal secretaries and politically appointed staff in the secretariat conduct the negotiations.
Sources said employees in the Personnel Administration Division of the Home Ministry also collect money in exchange for immigration postings. These officials make it difficult to get transferred to the airport immigration office without first negotiating with them. The National Investigation Department also assigns personnel to work at the airport immigration.
The Armed Police Force and Nepal Police have deployed intelligence officers at the airport. Earlier, the Nepal Police had stationed a special anti-human trafficking unit there, but authorities have since removed it. Instead of curbing human trafficking through the immigration office, officials have allowed the problem to escalate. Security personnel admit they no longer monitor immigration activities. "Everyone walking in groups wearing red, blue, or yellow hats is part of a prearranged deal," they said.
Immigration officers disregard directives from the CIAA. Some officials have secured their posts through connections within the CIAA itself. When someone cites the CIAA, certain staff dismiss it, saying, "Even Chief Commissioner Prem Rai has a case pending in the Supreme Court." Employees confirm this reflects the current reality.
CIAA raids TIA immigration office amid bribery allegation
Director General of the Department of Immigration, Govinda Rijal, described the current incident as an individual case and refused to comment until the CIAA completes its investigation. "The department continues to work on reforming immigration offices. If an individual causes a problem, the department or the ministry should not be held responsible," he said.
Meanwhile, Home Ministry spokesperson Rabindra Acharya said he was unaware of the matter.
Minister's aide named as accused
Sources claim that Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak's secretariat actively manipulated the system. Employees in the secretariat and individuals in the private secretariat arranged visit visa deals. Ganesh Ojha, who currently works in the secretariat, secured his position through connections with Nepali Congress leaders. The CIAA records show that Ojha faced corruption charges while serving as the Chief Administrative Officer of Mohanyal Rural Municipality in Kailali.
In fiscal year 2017/18, the CIAA filed corruption charges against the rural municipality chairperson, executive members, the chief administrative officer, and a contractor. They illegally waived revenue through an executive decision in a contract for excavating and selling stone, gravel, and sand. After confirming that they unlawfully waived Rs 5.418 million through that decision, the CIAA pursued the case.
The CIAA accused then Chief Administrative Officer Ojha of signing contracts without requiring contractors to deposit the agreed first installment in cash as stipulated. Ojha now operates in Minister Lekhak's secretariat. The Supreme Court is still considering his case.
The accused, who forged documents to send people abroad on visit visas, works in Home Minister Lekhak's secretariat. Officer Bimal Paudel, another key operator, manipulated visit visas at Tribhuvan International Airport's immigration office during the tenure of then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
The Nepal Police arrested the Branch Officer Narbir Khadka and other gang members during the operation. They filed cases against former immigration officers Bimal Paudel, Tarabahadur Kunwar, Kushal Baral, Shailendra Dhakal, Bikash Dangol, Pitambar Rimal, and Sujan Phago. Among them, Bimal Paudel now operates in the minister's secretariat. Following his plan and advice, another officer, Ganesh Dutta Ojha, assigns staff to the immigration office. A senior official from the Ministry of Home Affairs said, "The officer managing the visit visa manipulation works in the minister's secretariat. He controls staffing at immigration and is now facing the consequences."
The police charged Officer Paudel, who currently works in Minister Lekhak's secretariat, with forgery and organized crime at the Kathmandu District Court. He appeared quietly in court, and the court released him on bail.
Janak Bhatta, a former activist of the Nepal Student Union, arranges these manipulations as a personal secretary. He brokers transfers and promotions within the Immigration Department, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force. People say Bhatt handled these arrangements even when Minister Lekhak served as Labour Minister, using his influence in immigration to ease the process. Employees at the Home Ministry report that bribes related to staff posted through their arrangements at the immigration office exceed Rs 15 million daily.
The CIAA recently raided the airport immigration office and recorded a statement from the office chief, Joint Secretary Tirtha Raj Bhattarai. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak appointed the controversial Bhattarai as head of the airport immigration office. Bhattarai, who faced allegations in the earthquake-related tarp scandal and was involved in a controversial national ID contract during Ravi Lamichhane's tenure as Home Minister, received this appointment from Minister Lekhak. At that time, the government removed Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai from his post as Chief District Officer of Morang.
The CIAA closely monitors employees such as Deepak Pandey, Laxmi Bhusal, Durga Thapa, Saroj Khanal, Kamalraj Upadhyay, Shambhu Thagunna, Bhishmaraj Aryal, and Prabha Aryal. Many of them have repeatedly posted to the immigration office. Investigators found middlemen Arun Dahal, Saroj Kumar Yadav, Geeta Shah, and Ganesh Pandey guilty. A Home Ministry source revealed that Bimal Paudel and Ganesh Ojha decide who gets posted to immigration, and no one gets assigned without their approval.
Sources claim immigration employees collect up to Rs 50,000 from travelers to Gulf countries on visit visas and up to Rs 300,000 from those heading to European countries. Complaints reaching the CIAA reveal that the collected money flows from airport staff to the Home Ministry's leading minister. Acting on information about the organized bribe collection for visit visas, the CIAA conducted an undercover operation and gathered evidence of the manipulation.
Using that same information, the CIAA raided the immigration office on Wednesday and arrested Chief Tirtha Raj Bhattarai and others. They also confiscated Bhattarai's computer, staff records, and the mobile phones of three agents. After Home Minister Lekhak learned about the impending raid, he promptly ordered Bhattarai's transfer from the immigration office to the ministry on Tuesday evening. The ministry then transferred the Chief District Officer of Taplejung to replace him at the immigration office.
