Nepal's police chief has called an unusually large meeting of his senior officers while reports circulate that the government wants him to leave.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dan Bahadur Karki convened an emergency meeting of the Police Policy Coordination Committee (PCC) at Police Headquarters in Naxal on Thursday, October 29. It began around 2 p.m. and ran until 7 p.m.
Who was in the room
Additional Inspector Generals and Deputy Inspector Generals attended. The DIGs who head police in all seven provinces were called to Kathmandu, along with senior superintendents serving in the Valley. A routine PCC meeting is normally smaller and Valley-based. The wider turnout suggested the leadership wanted to discuss problems facing the whole force.
The reports behind it
There were reports that said some people in the Prime Minister’s Office were unhappy with how Karki handled investigations involving high-profile people, especially his insistence on following legal procedure in arrests. Those claims have not been confirmed by a government decision or an official statement.
Karki told the officers that the reports of his resignation were untrue and that no one from the government had asked him to step down. Police Headquarters later issued a statement warning that anyone trying to damage the force’s reputation, professionalism or performance would be investigated and face legal action. An officer who attended said the decision was to stand together to protect the organization's image and keep law and order from being affected.
What the meeting discussed
The agenda included:
- the reports about Karki’s possible removal and the police leadership’s relationship with the government
- alleged leaks of information from an investigation involving Inam Sapkota
- public criticism of the police and its chief
- discipline and cooperation among officers
- whether senior officers should approach the Prime Minister’s Office together
Participants disagreed. Some backed a joint visit to the Prime Minister’s Office. Others argued that the police should fix their own weaknesses first and that individuals should answer allegations about themselves.
The Sapkota investigation
Sapkota is described as a middleman who allegedly had links with influential people. He was reportedly being investigated over money laundering and banking offences and was held by the District Police Range, Kathmandu. He also had claimed connections with judges, senior police and Armed Police Force officials, lawyers and ruling-party figures. Those are alleged connections. They do not show that any of those people did anything wrong.
The uniform procurement questions
A separate issue concerns uniforms for temporary police deployed for the House of Representatives election on March 5, 2026. The matter reached Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which formed a subcommittee led by Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Manish Jha. Complaints were also reported to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
Who is Karki
Karki is the 33rd IGP. The Cabinet appointed him on November 10, 2025, and he took office on November 13. He joined the police as an inspector on March 31, 1998, and succeeded Chandra Kuber Khapung. He took over after the violent unrest of September 2025, which left 76 people dead, including three police personnel, and saw more than 450 police barracks, public properties and private establishments burnt or looted. Under the 30-year service rule, he could stay until March 2028.
Can the government remove him?
The Cabinet appoints the IGP. That is not the same as having an unrestricted power to dismiss one. The legal basis and procedure for early removal would have to be identified from the law and from any formal decision. Three outcomes are possible: he resigns, he is removed under a prescribed process, or he retires on schedule. Being asked to resign is not the same as resigning, and none of the three has happened so far.
