The real reason IGP Dan Bahadur Karki was sacked

As Nepal’s police chief, Dan Bahadur Karki kept reminding the prime minister’s secretariat what the law allowed. Ultimately, that became a reason he lost the job, multiple government officials told Kantipur. After the meeting, government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel said nothing about any dissatisfaction with Karki.

He said only that a new post had been created and for Karki, it was only a change of responsibility. Prime Minister Balendra Shah, however, wanted Karki out at a regular Cabinet meeting last Thursday, officials say. He raised the matter a day earlier in a discussion with Rabi Lamichhane, chair of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party.

The main reason then was Karki’s alleged “nexus” with Inam Sapkota, a fixer in police custody on charges of money laundering and banking offences. But on the day Karki was to be removed, WhatsApp chats between Supreme Court Justice Hari Phuyal and Sapkota were leaked. Then it emerged that Kumar Byanjankar, the prime minister’s political adviser popularly known as Kumar Ben, had kept Sapkota’s mobile phone for two days.