Three people have been arrested in Kathmandu on suspicion of gaining unauthorised access to the e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) and altering contract details, the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police has said. According to the Bureau, the suspects changed documents related to financial proposals before the bids were opened, an allegation that strikes at the heart of the fairness and transparency of Nepal's electronic public procurement process.

The arrests were reported from Kathmandu, and the development was carried by RatoPati and News of Nepal.

How the Suspects Were Identified

Bureau spokesperson Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dipakraj Awasthi said the three individuals were traced through a technical investigation and analysis conducted on the basis of a complaint. In other words, the case did not begin with a random sweep of the system but followed a specific grievance that prompted the specialised cyber policing unit to dig into digital records and activity logs.

While the Bureau has confirmed the number of arrests and the nature of the alleged tampering, it has withheld the identities of the three suspects. No details about their backgrounds, professions or any possible links to bidding firms or procurement processes have been made public so far.

Key points confirmed by the Cyber Bureau include:

  • Three suspects are in custody in connection with the case.
  • The alleged intrusion targeted the e-GP system operated under the PPMO.
  • Documents tied to financial proposals were altered before the bids were opened.
  • The suspects were identified through technical investigation and analysis following a complaint.
  • Their identities have not been disclosed.

What the Suspects Allegedly Did

At the centre of the case is the allegation that the trio managed to slip past the access controls of the e-GP system and manipulate contract-related records. Specifically, the changes were made to documents connected to financial proposals, and crucially, before those bids were opened.

The timing matters enormously in procurement. A financial proposal is meant to remain sealed and untouched until the scheduled bid opening, at which point all competing offers are disclosed and compared on equal footing. Any alteration made before that moment, if proven, would mean that what evaluators saw was not what the original bidders had actually submitted, distorting the very basis on which contracts are awarded.

The complaint that triggered the investigation suggests that the suspected manipulation was detected and reported rather than passing through unnoticed, and the Cyber Bureau's technical analysis subsequently pointed to the three individuals now under arrest.

Why the e-GP System Matters

The e-GP system is the digital backbone of public procurement in Nepal, serving as the platform through which government entities publish tenders, bidders submit their proposals and procurement processes are meant to be tracked transparently. The Public Procurement Monitoring Office is the apex state body responsible for regulating and overseeing public procurement in the country, which makes the security of the system it operates a matter of broad public interest.

A breach of the kind alleged in this case carries consequences well beyond a single tender:

  • It can undermine fair competition among bidders who rely on the system being tamper-proof.
  • It can distort contract awards and, by extension, the use of public resources.
  • It can erode the confidence of suppliers, contractors and citizens in electronic procurement as a whole.

That is precisely why the alleged alteration of financial proposal documents, before bid opening no less, is being treated as a serious offence. The e-GP platform was introduced to reduce discretion, paperwork and opportunities for manipulation in public purchasing. An incident of unauthorised access and document tampering, if established in court, would represent a direct challenge to those objectives.

The Cyber Bureau, as the Nepal Police unit specialised in investigating technology-driven crime, has in recent years handled a growing volume of cases involving hacking, digital fraud and misuse of online systems. This case is notable because the target was not a private company or an individual's account but the state's central procurement infrastructure.

Arrests Made, Details Still Scarce

For now, the confirmed picture remains narrow: three arrests, made in Kathmandu, tied to the alleged manipulation of contract details and financial proposal documents within the e-GP system, and a probe that originated from a complaint. The Bureau, through its spokesperson DSP Awasthi, has communicated the essentials of the case but has stopped short of releasing the suspects' names or other identifying information.

Further details, including the specific procurement involved, the extent of the changes allegedly made to the documents, and the legal course the case will now take, have not been made public. As the investigation progresses, the case is likely to draw close attention from procurement stakeholders and oversight bodies alike, given that the integrity of the e-GP system underpins billions of rupees in public spending across the country.

Until the Bureau or the PPMO issue fuller statements, the three arrests stand as the clearest signal yet that tampering with the country's electronic procurement system will be pursued through technical investigation and criminal enforcement.