Inam Sapkota's seized mobile phones were at Kumar Ben's residence for two days, forensic test confirms

At least three individuals connected to the secretariats of Prime Minister Balen Shah and Home Minister Sudan Gurung visited the police office while Inam Sapkot

At least three individuals connected to the secretariats of Prime Minister Balen Shah and Home Minister Sudan Gurung visited the police office while Inam Sapkota, who was arrested on money laundering charges, was in custody, a high-level security source has told Setopati.

According to the source, after Sapkota's arrest, Bishal Adhikari, coordinator at the prime minister's secretariat; James Karki, an adviser to the home minister; and Chirag Shrestha, who identifies himself as an information technology consultant to both the prime minister and the home minister, visited the police office.

Setopati has obtained photographs of Karki and Shrestha at the police office. However, the exact dates and times of their visits, as well as whom they met and what they discussed, remain unclear.

Chirag Shrestha (left) and James Karki (right) at the police office.

Adhikari, who serves as the coordinator of government affairs and planning coordination at the prime minister's secretariat, went directly to the police interrogation room and spoke with officers involved in the investigation into Sapkota.

Setopati has obtained a video of the interaction, which lasts approximately two and a half minutes.

The video, recorded at around 6:30 p.m. on October 2, shows Adhikari and Police Officer Raja Adhikari sitting across a table and talking. Setopati has retained a copy of the footage.

During the conversation, the police officer can be heard saying, "We hope the mobile phones will arrive today." This indicates that the phones seized following Sapkota's arrest were not in the possession of the police office at that time.

Bishal Adhikari and Police Officer Raja Adhikari engage in conversation. This image is a screenshot taken from the video.

On November 3, Setopati first reported that Kumar Ben, the prime minister's chief adviser, had kept two mobile phones seized from Sapkota at his residence for two days before they were sent for forensic examination.

According to new evidence obtained by forensic examination has now established the location of the phones.

The forensic report shows that at around 9:15 pm on October 2, the phones were located at coordinates 27.684922° north latitude and 85.321293° east longitude. According to a source, Google Maps identified the location as an area near the Ganesh Temple in Jwagal, Lalitpur.

A high-level police source said that Ben's private residence is located in the same area.

Forensic examination also revealed that WhatsApp and Facebook were accessed and screenshots of various materials stored on Sapkota’s phones were also taken during the period when the devices were not with the police.

Some messages on the phones were found to have been deleted. According to the source, some of those messages had been exchanged between Sapkota and Ben.

Police sources said that the phones contained records of conversations between Sapkota and Ben on various matters over several months. One of the subjects concerned the selection of Rastriya Swatantra Party’s (RSP) candidate for the March 5 election.

"A message was also found in which Inam recommended to Ben that Ananta Raj Ghimire should be given the party ticket from Dang Constituency No. 2," a source told

The deadline for filing nominations for the March 5 election was January 20. Based on this timeline, the conversation between Ben and Sapkota appears to have taken place around early January. This indicates that Ben and Sapkota had known each other well for at least the past 10 months.

Recently, details of alleged conversations between Sapkota and several high-ranking officials and judges, reportedly retrieved from his mobile phones, have been made public. Sources claim that screenshots of those conversations were also taken by Ben while he had possession of Sapkota's phones.

The transfer of phones seized during an investigation from the police's official custody into the control of the prime minister's chief adviser has raised serious questions about the impartiality of the investigation and the security of digital evidence.

According to a senior police source, although political leadership had previously shown interest in investigations, there had never been an instance of investigation materials being taken into their control and accessed.

Police sources also allege that individuals from the prime minister's secretariat visited the police office and directly interfered in the investigation and questioning of Sapkota.