KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha discussed the internal dispute between the two bodies under the Ministry of Home Affairs at Tribhuvan International Airport.
During the discussion, the matter of recalling Gogan Bahadur Hamal, head of the TIA Immigration Office and DIG Arjun Chand, chief of Airport Security, was discussed. However, a decision has not yet been taken in this regard, according to sources at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Prime Minister Dahal had a discussion with the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Shrestha after the employees working in two agencies forgot their responsibilities in a very sensitive area like the airport. The discussion took place between them at the Prime Minister's Residence in Baluwatar at 9 AM on Saturday.
Policeman assaults TIA Immigration Office Chief Hamal
Civil servants complained to Prime Minister Dahal about the incident at the airport.
Similarly, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal expressed concerns to the prime minister regarding recent incidents involving police actions at the airport. He pointed out that while standard protocol for addressing issues with personally assigned staff typically involves barring them from entering the airport or reprimanding them at their department, the current approach has escalated to police teams physically assaulting staff members. Dr Aryal emphasized that these aggressive actions by the police are causing significant challenges at the administrative level.
While the civil servants complained that the recent activities of the police were making their work difficult, Chief Secretary Aryal and other secretaries complained that the fight between the police and the staff at the TIA had also affected the image of the country.
Earlier, on Friday, Gogan Hamal, the head of the TIA Immigration Office, was assaulted by a policeman stationed at the airport. The policemen allegedly manhandled Hamal when he raised questions about the manhandling of an immigration officer, Chhaya Lal Moktan.
The government has formed a three-member committee, coordinated by Joint-Secretary Thaneshwor Gautam to probe the incident. The team comprising Nepal Police's Deputy Inspector General Rajeshnath Bastola and Immigration Administration's Under-Secretary Kul Bahadur GC is mandated to submit a report within three days with recommendations.
