The District Court, Surkhet, has convicted 13 people, including customs officer, involved in land purchasing and sale without the knowledge of the land owner.
A single bench of Justice Dr Rajendra Kumar Acharya on Wednesday found 13 people, including four employees of the Land Revenue Office, Surkhet, guilty of burglary and fraud. Saugat Rawat of Birendranagar Municipality-6 filed a case in the court on June 22 after finding that his land had been bought and sold.
The district court convicted Deputy Subba Vishwaroop Sawad of the Land Revenue Office, Ganesh Vik working in the computer branch, Krishna Bahadur Thapa, Dipendra Shrestha and Tirtharaj Mahatara of Moth and Jagga Namsari Phant, Ram Kumar Darlami, then acting chairman of Virendranagar-12, Uttam Adhikari and Sunita Rana.
Similarly, Sahebir Karki of Birendranagar-1, Amar Singh Katuwal of Birendranagar-6, Santosh Thakur of Birendranagar-6, Nirmal Puri of Birendranagar-5 and Ganesh Budha of Birendranagar-2 have been found guilty. District Court Judge Thakur Prasad Poudel informed that another hearing would be held within 30 days to determine the punishment for the culprits.
Rawat had filed a case in the court against 19 people, including a landlord after the land businessman Thakur and others passed a letter in Karki's name. In case of allotment or sale of land, the Land Revenue Office can transfer the name only in case of a joint application between the land owner and the landlord (the person buying the land). However, after it was revealed that the land was bought and sold without any information, Rawat filed a case against 19 people, including the then Land Revenue Office Chief Laxmi Khatri, on charges of fraud and slander.
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