Limbu dismisses news about his phone contacts as move to malign a "high-ranking janjati"
The acting chief of the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lalit Bahadur Limbu on Tuesday admitted that he had series of telephone conversations with the bank operator facing action from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) and 'individuals close to palace'.
"Not only one time, I have the authority to contact different individuals at anytime in the course of the investigation," Limbu said at a press meet he called Tuesday apparently to react to the news item published by Kantipur daily the same morning which said the acting chief of the anti-graft body had made six telephone calls to Laxmi Bahadur Shrestha, promoter of troubled Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank (NCC) and chairman of Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NBB), before and on the day the CIAA filed corruption cases against Governor Bijya Nath Bhattarai and NRB director Surendra Man Pradhan at the Special Court
"Conversing with individuals on telephone is not illegal. However, it would have been a different case had such contacts affected decisions or cases." The acting chief of the anti graft body further said that it is "a professional act as well as an individual right to contact".
Reports said that the Central Bank under the leadership of Governor Bhattarai had already taken the management of NBB bank under its control while it had warned in writing that it would also take over the management of NCC bank if its directions are not abided by.
Similarly, the newspapers also reported that Limbu had contacted a mobile number registered in the name of the palace 19 times. Ex-military secretary Gajendra Limbu carries that mobile phone.
"He (Gajendra Limbu) is my younger brother and it is natural to have conversation with him," Limbu said.
Appointed acting chief of CIAA during King Gyanendra's direct rule, Limbu also claimed he was an "ardent believer in democracy."
Limbu also used the opportunity to dismiss the news, however, as a "desperate attempt to pull the leg of a high-ranking Janajati". nepalnews.com ag July 25 07
