Bishnu Paudel’s name was unnecessarily defamed in Lalita Niwas land scam: Devendra Paudel

‘GOVT WILL NOT LET ANYBODY ENCROACH PUBLIC LAND’

KATHMANDU, April 30: Nepal Communist Party (NCP) standing committee member and lawmaker Devendra Paudel has said that the government will not let anybody encroach public land.

“The government is committed to protecting the public properties,” said Paudel at an interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Tuesday.

“The government will retrieve the lands that are illegally transferred to private individuals,” he added.

“The land mafias and brokers will not go unpunished,” he added.

Paudel also defended NCP General Secretary Bishnu Paudel saying that his name was unnecessarily mixed up in the Lalita Niwas land scam.

“Paudel did not buy the land abusing the government sources. Any individuals have the right to buy and sell land. He bought the land from a valid landowner.”

“There is no need to libel him (Paudel) because he and his family was not involved in land encroachment,” he said.

General Secretary Paudel has been widely criticized for owning eight annas of land in Lalitw Niwas, which was transferred to his ownership illegally by land mafias in 2005, January 13.

Paudel has claimed that he bought the plot from the wife of Shobhakanta, Uma Dhakal and Madhavi Subedi.

According to reports, about 100 individuals including big business houses Bhatbhatini, Goyal, Sarda, Chachan, Kediya, Gopal Khanal Group, Shobakanta Dhakal, Ram Kumar Subedi, Purushottam Paudel illegally own the 114 ropanies of Lalita Niwas land, which was nationalized in 1964– by duly compensating the rightful owners.