KATHMANDU: Just a day after Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta resigned over a Rs 7.8 million bribery scandal, an audio recording allegedly implicating Minister for Land Management, Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Balaram Adhikari in a separate bribery case has surfaced.

The leaked audio, lasting 11 minutes and 46 seconds, claims that Minister Adhikari accepted a bribe of Rs 3.2 million.

It further alleges that the bribe transaction was arranged by his son, Manoj Adhikari. However, the authenticity of the audio has not yet been verified.

In the conversation—believed to have taken place inside a government office or ministry—Minister Adhikari is reportedly handed Rs 3.2 million in a bag.

The audio mentions that the money was delivered either in a red or green bag directly to the minister’s official residence.

The conversation, involving two to three individuals, alleges that Minister Adhikari took the bribe in exchange for facilitating the registration of 135 ropanis of land in Pokhara Metropolitan City under a private individual’s name.