Nepal anti-graft chief targeted in alleged assassination plot

An email arrived in the inbox of Prem Kumar Rai, chief commissioner of Nepal’s anti-corruption body, with a chilling subject line: “We are giving you 10 days for your last wish.” The message, signed “Prakash Pathak, chairman, EGN,” threatened the assassination of ten officials at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority unless they resigned within the deadline.

Weeks later, a second message called on escaped prisoners, underground networks, and hidden weapons holders to contact EGN, which stood for “Extremist Group Nepal.” Investigators say the founder chose the name because an earlier version sounded too weak. The more striking discovery, however, was not the organization’s name but where the investigation led.

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We are giving you 10 days for your last wish.

After tracing email metadata, WhatsApp accounts, and financial trails across Nepal, India, the UAE, and the Philippines, police identified Pradeep Adhikari, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, as the central figure. On May 12, prosecutors filed a fifth criminal case accusing Adhikari of involvement in organized crime, illegal hundi transactions, and a conspiracy to force Rai’s resignation or have him killed.

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Prakash Pathak, chairman, EGN.

The investigation documents and interviews reveal a pressure campaign that goes beyond a conventional assassination plot. It combines bureaucratic intimidation, manufactured propaganda, transnational money flows, and ritual-based occult warfare targeting a sitting anti-corruption official. This campaign was reportedly financed, in part, by contractors linked to one of Nepal’s largest Chinese-built infrastructure projects.

Adhikari, 46, has denied the allegations, with his lawyer stating he has been framed. Adhikari had spent over a decade as one of Nepal’s most untouchable officials, known internally as “the permanent government” within the aviation bureaucracy. He adapted to changing political powers while maintaining control over billion-rupee infrastructure contracts, including all three of Nepal’s national pride airport projects. His protection began to erode after the 2025 Gen Z protests fractured his patronage networks, emboldening the CIAA to reopen files tied to his past.

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Political actors produce officials like Adhikari. Politicians plant them, groom them, exploit them.