A letter of credit (L/C) opened by procurement officers at Nepal Police before they had signed a contract with the supplier has featured in a case in which nine senior police personnel have been investigated.

Nepal's Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has now recommended that the authorities take action against the police officers for their apparent involvement in the irregularities over the procurement of parka jackets for police personnel.

Investigations

Nepal Police had issued a tender to supply about 57,000 parka jackets for its personnel to a company known as Anand Trade.

But following a complaint by another bidder, who claims to have offered to supply similar jackets at half the price Anand Trade quoted, the CIAA began investigating alleged irregularities in the tender process.

Irregularities

The CIAA found that the police officers did not follow procurement procedures, paid twice as much for the jackets this year as they did for comparable ones last year and accepted a tender that priced the jackets at double the actual market price.

The commission also noted that Nepal Police had not verified the authenticity of the supplier or the producer of the jackets and had opened a L/C for the goods even before signing a contract with the supplier.

The commission has now cancelled the original tender for the jackets and asked Nepal Police headquarters to initiate a fresh tender process.

Officers

The nine officers investigated by the CIAA included Inspector General of Nepal Police, Ramesh Chand Thakuri.

The CIAA also investigated Deputy Inspector General Ramesh Bikram Shah as well as several superintendents and more junior officers.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.