KATHMANDU:- The Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI) has taken Shankarlal Agrawal, an executive of the controversial business house Shanker Group, into custody in connection with a money laundering case, officials confirmed on Friday.

According to a senior Nepal Police official, Agrawal was detained by the security team stationed at the department on Friday as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering offences.

Authorities are investigating multiple allegations against Agrawal, including black marketeering during the COVID-19 pandemic, large-scale tax and VAT evasion, irregularities in feeder line transactions, production of substandard goods, consumer fraud, and failure to clear outstanding dues of Rs 2.65 billion to the Nepal Electricity Authority.

Earlier reports had also linked the group to overpricing thermal guns during the pandemic.

On Thursday, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had arrested controversial businessman Deepak Bhatt and handed him over to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation for further inquiry.

Bhatt, Agrawal, and their associates have long faced allegations of influencing power centers and secretly carrying out large-scale financial irregularities, causing losses to the state. During the course of the investigation, Bhatt’s passport had also been impounded.

The department said that investigations into Bhatt, Agrawal, and other controversial business figures are ongoing.