Chairman and Managing Director of CG Holdings Arun Chaudhary, who was arrested for illegally appropriating the 10-ropani land belonging to Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory on February 1, has been released on general date on Wednesday.
Ajit Narayan Singh Thapa, the then-chairman of the Bansbari-based factory, and Sanjay Thakur, chairman of Chandbagh School, who were in connection with the case along with Chaudhary, have also been released today.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police released the trio following the order of the Kathmandu District Court.
The District Court on Monday had ordered the CIB to release all of them if the investigation is not completed within two days.
A single bench of Judge Yagya Prasad Acharya had granted the CIB a two-day time to carry out the investigation into the case and issued an order to freed the trio if the investigation is not completed within the given timeframe.
CIB spokesperson Nawaraj Adhikari said that all three including Chaudhary have been released from custody.
The Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory was established in the 1960s with the support of the Chinese government.
The disputed 10 ropanis of land were sold by the Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory to Champion Footwear. Later in 1986, six acres of land were sold to Champion Footwear for Rs 250,000 per ropani, a far cheaper rate than the government valuation at the time. An additional four acres of land were given to get 2,500 shares of the industry.
At that time, along with Arun, Binod Chaudhary, Basant Chaudhary and others were the shareholders of Champion Footwear, which has long ceased to exist.
These days, the former shoe company operates as CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt Ltd, and Chaudhary Group Foundation has been running Chandbagh School here. Arun and his wife Sheela are its shareholders.
The land case was under investigation for the last three months. A three-member team headed by Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati is leading the investigation. The team had gathered evidence from the Department of Land Management and Archive and talked to the locals before arresting the suspects.
