The police officers assigned to the department had been withdrawn after the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) took action against an offending pharmacy owned by a former deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Dinesh Chandra Pokharel.

The department had initiated legal proceedings against the pharmacy located inside Varosa Hospital at New Baneshwor for overcharging customers on surgical devices during its inspection on May 18. The department has sought action as per Black-Marketing and Some Other Social Offences and Punishment Act 1975.

According to the DoCSM, the Metropolitan Police Range has said in an official letter sent on Monday that it was allowing the police personnel to resume duty to support the department’s work on a daily basis.

However, only one police officer has been sent while the departed had asked for two. “The move will facilitate market monitoring in places where there could be physical assaults against department officials from wrongdoers,” said DoCSM Deputy Director General Kamal Prasad Bhattarai.

According to him, the police officer will be working at the department throughout office hours on a daily basis. The police range had been providing its personnel only at the request of the department. After the Metropolitan Police Range called back its officers from the department, the DoCSM had written to the Home Ministry through the Ministry of Commerce and Supply on June 1 asking that they be reinstated.

Meanwhile, the police said they were committed to supporting the action taken by the department against black marketers.

Chief of the New Baneshwor Police Unit Deputy Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki said they had been providing support to the department at any time as requested.