Investment Board's former CEO Sushil Bhatta taken into police custody

Police have arrested Sushil Bhatta, former chief executive officer of the Investment Board, for investigation into a money-laundering offence.

A team from the Kathmandu Police Range at Bhadrakali took him into custody from Sanepa in Lalitpur on Saturday.

Senior Superintendent of Police Dilip Ghimire of the Range confirmed Bhatta's arrest and said the investigation against him was ongoing. According to a senior police official, he will also be investigated for an offence under the Nepal Rastra Bank Act.

Bhatta is currently being held in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Range. There had been discussion over whether to send him to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation or have the police themselves carry out the investigation; after the discussion, police decided to proceed with the investigation themselves.

According to police sources, Bhatta's name surfaced in the investigation that began after former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Jabra was brought to a police office citing security reasons. Bhatta had since come under the scope of the police investigation, and conversations between him and Jabra had reportedly come to light during that probe.

Police say Bhatta's links appeared in the statement, phone contacts and other activities of a person already arrested in the same case. Once his dealings and contacts with that person came to light, Bhatta was taken into custody, police sources said.