24 March, Kathmandu. The Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission arrested Civil Aviation Authority (CAN) Director General Pradeep Adhikari on 17th November.
He was arrested on charges of irregularities in the construction of the heliport at Nalinchok in Bhaktapur and was sent to Dillibazar Jail on November 21. A corruption case of Pokhara International Airport was also filed against the officer who was arrested and sent to prison in the Nalinchok heliport case.
District Police Complex Kathmandu is investigating three cases simultaneously against the officials who were arrested for corruption at Nalinchok Heliport and Pokhara Airport. Among them are the offenses of murder industry, organized crime and money laundering.
While investigating these cases, the police have found new facts about the officers. Now his connection with a person named Navinraj Basnet has been revealed through the investigation.
Basnet effort to settle the case without giving up speed
For a long time, the authority was investigating the corruption case from Nalinchok Heliport to Pokhara Airport, where officials were attached. Although they tried to influence the investigation by influencing the authorities, they were not successful.
According to the investigation report, an attempt was made to reconcile the authorities through Navinraj Basnet, who has been familiar with the authorities for a long time and has been working closely with them.
Basnet is the same person who three years ago took the contract for the taxiway and apron inside the Gautam Buddha International Airport located in Bhairahawa. This contract was received by Ashish-Kshamadevi-Buddha Himali JV. Basnet was associated with Kshamadevi at that time.
It is clear that there was a conversation between the official and Basnet on the WhatsApp chat that Onlinekhabar received. Jahan Basnet through Rajesh Bajracharya assured the officer that he will settle the corruption case from the authority.
Pradeep Adhikari seems to have messaged Naveen Basnet on WhatsApp that he spoke to Rajesh Dai only at 11:07 pm on 23 November 2025.
It can be seen in the message, ‘Basnet replies that he is waiting inside the kitchen on the night of 11:10. Basnet sends another message that I will meet with Ba too. Brother, we are with me.’
Earlier, on 22 November, the officer seems to have sent a message saying ‘there has been some progress, brother’. Jahan Basnet is seen replying back and saying, ‘Bale nai khara gayo dai’, ‘RM, that’s what came to our mind.’
On November 17, Basnet sent a message to the officer, ‘Why so much pressure, it will stop, don’t worry.’
Basnet seems to have assured the authorities that the case brought by the authority will be stopped. Pradeep sends a message to Naveen on 4th November at 12:24 pm – The file was fine yesterday.
After that, they also send another message – Yesterday Kupandol.
On November 4, at 12:15 PM, Pradeep sends another message to Naveen – He has come again with a letter from CIAA (Akhtiar).
Naveen returns the message – Did you bring the letter brother?
Then there is a 1 minute 38 second audio conversation between them.
On November 25, at 11:10 PM, Basnet sent a message to the officer on WhatsApp, saying, “Even if I lose speed, I will do it bro, don’t take tension.”
The officer says ‘yes’. Basnet and Rajesh Bajracharya’s house is located at Suryavinayak-2 in Bhaktapur. They are neighbors.
In the WhatsApp conversation between Adhikari and Basnet, Rajesh Bajracharya, Mr. But the investigating officers say that Basnet did not reach Ba.
‘It seems that to reassure the officials, he took the names of high-ranking officials and promised to settle the case from them. But there is no evidence that Basnet has reached there for the sake of the case itself,’ an investigation officer told Online Khabar.
When asked about the WhatsApp conversation with Pradeep, Basnet denies everything. ‘I am a foodie. Even now, my work is being done at Bhairahawa Airport. It’s nothing like you said,’ Basnet told Online Khabar.
Threatened to open and kill the militant organization
After the failure of trying to settle the case by influencing the authority, it is seen that two things were done at the same time. It has been revealed from the investigation that there were actions ranging from starting a militant organization and threatening to kill Prem Rai, the head of the Authority, to resign.
It seems that Basnet himself sent the officer on WhatsApp by making a letter pad of the militant organization. According to the DFL (Digital Forensic Lab) report, it has been revealed that the letter pad was sent to Pradeep Adhikari via WhatsApp from Basnet’s number 9707777.
An investigation officer says that the original PDF file of the photograph was found to be extracted from the PDF in a JPG image. On the other hand, in his statement before the police, Basnet has given a statement insisting that he did not even know about the letter pad sent from his WhatsApp app.
Prakash Pathak issued a notice through this letterhead and threatened to kill 10 people including the head of the authority. Pathak threatened to kill him if he did not resign immediately through the video.
It has also been found that a betel nut of 2 crores was given to Pathak to make him threaten in this way. Pathak was ready to threaten after negotiating at 20 million which was initially negotiated from 100 million.
Readers and officers are also former acquaintances. It was found that the authorities used a Chinese person to send money to readers in the Philippines. The Chinese citizen sent money to Pathak in the Philippines through hundi.
After realizing the amount, Pathak revealed in the statement that he even bought an apartment in the Philippines for 16 million. Pathak said that he was used when he was lured by money in this incident.
A red notice was also issued through Interpol to arrest Pathak who threatened to stay in the Philippines. Pathak, who was arrested by the Philippine police, was brought to Kathmandu by the Nepalese police on January 28. The investigation on Pathak is ongoing.
After bringing Pathak to Kathmandu for investigation, officers and Basnet were also involved in this threat and killing incident. Campus Kathmandu has also taken a statement from Basnet. During the statement, he claimed that he did not know Prakash Pathak at all.
He admitted to the police that he knew Pradeep Adhikari and used to communicate on WhatsApp. But Basnet has given a statement claiming that he does not know anything about the chats and the evidence found against him.
The use of tantric
After various attempts failed, it was found that the authorities tried to get rid of the charges through tantric methods. An Indian tantric baba who is said to be the guru of the Kamakhya Devi temple in Guwahati, Assam, India, appears to be using a 43-year-old tantric baba named Saraya Kinnera (Jai Jagadabbe).
It has been found that Jai Jagdambe Baba was forced to do chamta (damage by tantric method) by sending a photo of Rai. After that, it has been found that Tantric Baba sent a video to Pradeep Adhikari where Jai Jagdambe made a statue of Rai, the head of the authority, and burned it with a weapon while chanting tantric mantras.
Basnet said that Tantrik Jai Jagdambe was asked to perform the puja so that the officers would not be harmed. “I learned from Pradeep Adhikari that Akhtiar was investigating, so that he did not cause any harm in the case, he asked the Guru to call him on WhatsApp to pray,” Basnet has given a statement before the police.
When Online Khabar contacted Basnet on this matter, he claimed that he did not introduce Tantrik Baba to Pradeep Adhikari. ‘I did not introduce Tantrik Baba to the officer,’ said Basnet.
Pradeep Adhikari and Navinraj Basnet welcomed Jai Jagdambe, who was sent to Nepal to finish off Rai, at the airport.
Basnet changed 6 mobiles in 7 months
Now the police have started an investigation focused on Basnet. After her activities were found suspicious, Basnet’s mobile details were found during the investigation by technical analysis.
To what extent, Basnet has been found to have changed 6 mobile phones in a period of 7 months. On June 20, 2025, Basnet drove an A3297 iPhone 16 Pro Max. On September 30, iPhone 17 Promax of model A3526 was found running. It seems that the same phone is used on 17th November 2025 as well.
On January 24, 2026, Basnet used the A2894 model iPhone 14 ProMax. On January 25, it was found in the investigation that he was using the iPhone 17 Promax of A3526 after changing this mobile phone.
On January 30, within five days of using this mobile phone, details were found that he used iPhone 17 Pro Max of A3525.
According to one of the investigating officers, there are grounds to further confirm the allegations against him because he was driving while changing his mobile phone.
‘It is not a good intention to use different mobile phones within five days. Now we are researching the subjects that we are focusing on. Such incidents have provided the basis for further confirmation of those matters,’ said an investigation officer.
Various evidences have drawn Basnet under the radar of the investigation. His statement has been taken by the police.