Madhyapur Thimi chief administrative officer arrested with Rs 3.3 million bribe money

The chief administrative officer of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Bhaktapur has been taken into custody after the anti-corruption commission said he was caught with Rs 3.3 million in bribe money.

Bhojraj Ghimire, the municipality's top administrative official, was arrested on Monday by a team from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The commission said the Rs 3.3 million was recovered from him at the time of the arrest.

Acting on information that a bribe transaction was under way, the commission's team raided the municipal office in Madhyapur Thimi. Officers also seized documents from the office during the raid, and the commission said further investigation is under way.

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The commission has not yet said what work or service the alleged bribe was linked to, and it has not yet given details of any other person involved. Those questions are likely to be central as investigators examine the seized documents and the circumstances of the transaction.

As chief administrative officer, Ghimire was the senior official responsible for the day-to-day administration of the municipality, which serves residents of Madhyapur Thimi in Bhaktapur district, east of Kathmandu. An arrest at that level therefore carries weight beyond a single office, because it touches public trust in how local services and decisions are handled.

The case will now follow the commission's usual course. If investigators find sufficient evidence, the matter can proceed toward prosecution, while Ghimire remains an accused person and the allegations against him remain to be tested through that process.

For residents, the immediate question is whether the investigation reaches beyond the arrest itself and establishes what was promised, what was paid for and who else, if anyone, was involved. Until the commission publishes those findings, the arrest stands as a fresh reminder that bribery cases can reach senior local offices, not only lower-level desks.