The Bagmati Zonal Office of the Nepal Food Corporation has been found guilty of 'disappearing' 130 goats from the 4,000 that were brought for sale to Kathmandu during Dasain. The Corporation had claimed that 250 goats had suffocated to death in godowns in its report. An investigation carried out by the National Vigilance Centre, however, found that only 120 goats had died, confirming the corruption charge.

A team led by Police Inspector Indra Bahadur Dangi of the Vigilance Centre excavated the site where the carcasses were buried. "The dozer could not pull out more than 120 carcasses from the site. There is clear evidence of corruption," Dangi said.

An argument ensued between Corporation officials and the probe team members when the media was told about the number of carcasses found. Corporation staff accused the investigation team of incompetence. But if the Vigilance Centre is to be believed, the Food Corporation secretly distributed goats to VVIPs during Dasain. Goats were presented to secretaries, directors and other high-level officials as Dasain gifts. And when the accounts did not match, Corporation staff simply inflated the number of dead goats, the probe team alleges.

Chief of Bagmati Zonal Office of the Food Corporation, Amar Bahadur Khadka, has denied the charge of corruption. According to him, goats died in previous years too. Khadka also accused the Vigilance Centre of conducting the examination in a slapdash manner.

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