By Rabi Raj Thapa

The relationship between Organized Crime Groups of Nepal (OCG) with politics and bureaucracy is intricately embedded in Nepal.

Nepali general public clamoring about the plight of Nepalese youths leaving the country for food, jobs and livelihood, the Central Bank, and Ministry of Finance boast about their foreign reserve and shameless exploitation of hard-working Nepali peoples’ sweat and blood.

In economics, Gresham’s law is a monetary principle that states “bad money drives away good money”. Nepal has become a country where bad people are driving away good people out of place, out of jobs and out of the country.

Any individual possesses many facades and roles at the same time. Today, Ravi Lamichane and Deepak Manage have become two examples. Within a short period, Ravi Lachine emerged as an iconic journalist, media tycoon, and a successful and popular political leader who is now indicted as a fraudulent superstar and an organized criminal. Ravi Lamichane is the same politician who was highly praised when he was a closer ally of the topmost political powerhouse who welcomed him as the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister twice within two years.

The Supreme Court of Nepal supported the High Court’s 12-year-old verdict of five years imprisonment for Rajiv Gurung aka Deepak Manange’s attempted murder case. Rajiv Gurung utilized this gestation period by entering Nepali politics and succeeded in becoming provincial minister six times.

In the politicization of crime in Nepal, there are many cases in the past in which many criminal minds had achieved remarkable political success whose behavior was nothing but like that of a Wolf Cloaked in a Sheep’s Skin.

However, the dilemma and maladies in Nepal lie with the government, investigation authorities, and especially with the Nepal Police.

The nature of the investigation of organized crime is that of a proactive measure. In organized crime investigation, law enforcement official penetrates the organized crime syndicate in various ways like undercover, wire-tapping, and monitoring money transactions and their secret dealings and communications. Overtly there are strict observances like that of any bank in “Know Your Customer” and more specifically “prove the owner of the company to be a politically exposed person (PEP) or a very important person (VIP). Then the second remains question is to prove the relationship of the company owner with that PEP or VIP. Failing to do these, there will be a greater chance for the perpetrators to hinder the investigation by undue political and physical, monetary means. What we are seeing in Pokhara and Kathmandu regarding anything is the outcome of these.

Now the problem with the police investigation is that it is investigating an organized crime in a disorganized, unsystematic and haphazard manner. That has become a modus operendi of Nepali investigation authorities. The first and fundamental question for any Nepali investigating authority is to study the success rate of its indictment, its deterrence effect on organized crime behavior and the establishment of a pattern that leads to a successfully organized crime investigation.

Looking at the figure given above, the general public can raise the question where do GB Rai and Ravi Lamichane or retired Police DIG stand in the Pyramid Structure of Organized Crime given above? This Pyramid structure of Organized Crime applies to all previous scams and scandals from Luda-Dhamiza, PLA Reintegration to Sudan, Lalita-Niwas, Giri-Bandhu Tea Garden to Bhutanese Human Trafficking where most of the Nepali Top-Notch national political, Judicial and Administrative towering personalities can be and are liable to be indicted. These are only a few examples.  

Hence, Organized Crimes encompass the whole structure, personnel engaged and involved in all echelons, and their financial interdisciplinary transactions over a long period. It is more of a proactive nature of investigation with files and documental evidence than a custodial interrogation and verbal confession.  It is done by accountants and financial experts and crime detectives rather than gun-wielding and baton-holding uniformed police personnel.