The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has raided the offices of Samanantar Nirman Sewa Pvt Ltd for alleged corruption in Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s Teku building construction project, and tax evasion.

The move follows complaints filed by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a constitutional body mandated to investigate corruption. 

On December 17, the DRI team confiscated all the documents related to the contract from its office located at Old Baneshwor.

Samanantar, a construction company, has been building government infrastructure for a long time. The company has been accused of getting large governmental contracts through its political nexus, particularly during the tenure of the erstwhile PM Oli. 

Also read: Dubious dealings at Sindhu Bikash Bank  

Currently, the company has almost Rs 13 billion worth of contracts related to government-owned buildings, including one worth Rs 5.87 billion for a new Supreme Court building.

Further, it has contracts from Nepal Police Club, Nepal Oil Corporation, Bhaktapur District Court, provincial ministries’ offices and quarters, Department of Roads, Nepal Rastra Bank, Metropolitan Police Office, and Office of Attorney General.

Besides the buildings, it also builds roads throughout the country. The recently built International Conference Center at Godawari was also the work of Samanantar. The center’s roofs had started leaking even before its inauguration. 

Company Chairman Achyut Kharel, however, has denied the charges. “We have VAT bills for each transaction. There was no need to confiscate our documents,” says Kharel.