KATHMANDU, May 18: Director General of the Department of Transport Management (DTM) Rupnarayan Bhattarai has been transferred to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
According to sources, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth, who had been soft on the transport entrepreneurs, transferred Bhattarai to purportedly penalize him for playing a role in ending the syndicate.
Mahaseth transfers key man in anti-syndicate drive
Bhattarai had strongly supported Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa in his campaign to end the syndicate for good while Minister Mahaseth was in a state of indecision.
It is learnt that Mahaseth had secretly agreed to unlock the blocked bank accounts of the transport committees in favor of the syndicate against the decision of the Home Ministry.
Bhattarai’s transfer has been viewed as a maneuvering carried out in cahoots with the transport entrepreneurs.