Gyanendra has taken away palace property: report

Kathmandu, June 23 (UNI) The government committee, which submitted its inventory of properties inside the Narayanhiti Palace, has questioned the authenticity of the record of the properties that it received from ex-king Gyanendra Shah and his officials.

''This committee has a reservation (regarding the record of the properties it was given). It is not satisfied with the record of the properties it received,'' Kantipur quoted the report submitted by the committee.

''There is a big gap between what there should be and what the committee has found inside the palace,'' the committee said in the report which is expected to be made public only after the cabinet decides on it.

The committee reached the conclusion after it could not get the details of all the properties inside the palace. In its report, the committee has mentioned the list of items that it was not provided with by the palace.

It stressed on the need to carry out further investigations into the properties provided to it by the ex King.

The security controlled by former king and ''retired'' palace officials were the major obstacles to the committee from getting access to the palace properties and enlisting them in the inventory, a cabinet source, who read the report, said.

Government sources said the palace security did not allow the committee to access those places where valuable documents and properties were kept until Gyanendra quit the palace. Consequently, the committee could not record the ''missing'' properties in its inventory.

''The committee had tried to seal-off certain places on the very first day of its work but was not allowed by the security.

As a result, the committee could not record all the properties,'' the source said.

The committee headed by Secretary Govinda Prasad Kusum had even apprised the prime minister and the home minister of the obstacles.

At one point, while preparing the inventory, the committee had even discussed raiding the residences of some former royals, including that of ex-king's son, Paras, with some cabinet members, but dropped the idea would have humiliated the former royals.

''We are sure that we can find everything that was taken away from the palace if we raid the houses of certain people,'' the source said.

Notably, the government had asked Gyanendra to submit the list of things he was taking away. But he did not provide any details of the things he took away.

UNI XC SYU KN1238