A Nepali Congress MP from Kathmandu was arrested, on Thursday, for allegedly possessing fake academic certificates by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).
Sunil Sharma, who was elected from the Morang-3 constituency, was arrested on charges of forgery related to his educational certificates, Nepal Police spokesperson, Deputy Inspector General Kuber Kadayat said.
As per local media reports, Sharma who is also a medical professional and runs a hospital, was charged with a similar case nearly seven years ago.
The ruling party in Nepal, Nepali Congress, opposes his arrest.
“He was arrested because he demanded the resignation of Home and Finance Ministers over a gold smuggling case,” Nepali Congress lawmaker Arjun Nar Singh KC alleged.
“Why did the police drop the investigation seven years back against Sharma and why are they digging out now,” he asked.
Sharma is a verbal critic of Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Finance Minister Prakash Sharan for their alleged involvement in the gold smuggling case. Shrestha belongs to the CPN (Maoist Center), whereas Mahat is from the Nepali Congress.
Last month, on July 18, Nepal police had seized around 100 kg of gold near the Kathmandu airport.
After the confiscation by the police, Sharma released a statement accusing the Home and Finance Ministries saying that such a quantity of the precious metal cannot be smuggled from Hong Kong to Kathmandu without the involvement of ministries.
After the arrest, Sharma was taken into custody under Article 103 (6) of the Constitution of Nepal, the CIB informed House Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire.
The CIB further said that the MP was arrested as per the law since the probe was considered necessary on the charge of possession of fake academic certificates.
Some of the doctors in Nepal have allegedly obtained registration from Nepal Medical Council by submitting fake academic certificates from India and have then attended exams conducted by the Council for registration certificates, said CIB.
The Bureau further added that at least seven doctors, who used fake academic certificates to pursue MBBS, were also arrested on Thursday and Friday. Similarly, Sharma’s certificate of I.Sc. was ‘not verified’ by the National Examinations Board, news agency IANS reported citing CIB.
Source : Wion News
