A team of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Tuesday arrested accountant at Transport Management Office, Koshi, Bhupendra Katuwal with Rs 40,000 bribe money. He allegedly took the money with a promise of making two light vehicle driving licences.

The team from Itahari-based CIAA office led by police inspector Om Prakash Khanal caught him red-handed with the bribe money at Khotang Hotel nearby the office. He had also taken Rs 3000 for registering two driving licence forms.

One local Tara Pokharel said he informed the CIAA and media about the corruption. He produced photo copies of the cash he paid to Katuwal after he knew that the accountant was involved in issuing driving licences by taking bribes.  “I have been chasing this account since 2063 BS. And only now I found him,” said Pokharel.

CIAA Inspector Khanal said they had been keeping an eye on the illegal monetary dealing after they received complaints of rampant bribe at Transport Management Office and this time they could caught the official taking the bribe acting on a tip-off.

Service seekers are forced to find an easy way to make the driving licence because of undue hassles at Transport Management office. The office halted its services—new form registration and renewal of licences—for the past two months citing malfunctioning of server software.

Chief at Transport Management Office, Koshi, Shyam Kumar Singh, said currently they are not accepting forms for driving licence test and the claimed forms have not been registered at the office.