A man alleged to have close ties to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is a mayoral candidate in Birgunj, a sub–metropolitan city in Nepal’s Terai region and close to the border with India.
On Saturday, Nepal’s main opposition party CPN-UML announced Basaruddhin Ansari’s candidature for the third phase of local polls, slated for September 18.
Ansari, a controversial figure in Nepal, owns medical colleges in Birgunj and Kathmandu. It is believed Dawood has invested millions of rupees into the colleges. Many media outlets have reported on his alleged illegal sources of income.
Hours after Ansari’s candidature was announced, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba instructed Tribhuvan University — Nepal’s oldest — to scrap the affiliation of the two colleges. CPN-UML chairman KP Oli immediately hit back, calling the decision “unfair”.
News outlet Nepal Live on Sunday reported that the Indian embassy in Kathmandu made several correspondents to the government through the ministry of foreign affairs to probe Ansari’s properties.
In its letter, the embassy said it has credible information that National Medical College, Birgunj received a large investment from Dawood, and as per the UN Security Council Resolution number 1526, the property should be seized. Following the embassy’s request, the foreign ministry forwarded the letter to the ministry of home affairs.
The government formed a probe committee but Ansari refused to assist them, saying that they did not have authority to probe his property and threatened to move the Supreme Court.
Nepal Live was unable to independently verify the letter as it was allegedly written around 12 years ago.
In his response to the outlet’s report, Ansari said he has long faced similar charges and claimed he was feeling “insecure” as a mayoral candidate, though he did not disclose the reason for feeling threatened.
Source : Hindustan Times
