Kathmandu, May 18 -- The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Sunday filed a corruption case at the Special Court against eight individuals, including former Madhesh Province minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Vijay Kumar, and the former mayor and deputy mayor of Bagmati Municipality in Sarlahi district.

The anti-graft body has accused them of misappropriating public property and causing damage to state resources by illegally extracting forest products and constructing fish ponds within a protected forest area under the Sagarnath Forest Development Project.

According to the charge sheet, the accused encroached upon the Murtiya forest area of the Sagarnath project; excavated sand, gravel, stones, and ...