KATHMANDU: Former Agriculture Secretary of Madhesh Province, Dr. Namrata Singh, along with three others and an agricultural farm, has been convicted on corruption charges.

The Special Court has found them guilty of misappropriating one crore rupees in agricultural subsidies. On Thursday, a bench comprising Special Court Chair Tek Bahadur Kunwar and members Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa delivered the verdict.

The court sentenced former secretary Singh and Shankar Prasad Sah, the head of the Agricultural Knowledge Center in Dhanusha, to one year in prison.

Both were also fined Rs 2.5 million each, and the court ordered the recovery of the embezzled amount from them.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed the charge sheet last Poush, accusing Dr. Singh—then serving as secretary at the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives in Madhesh Province—of committing corruption by disbursing one crore rupees based on fake and fabricated documents.