VIRAL FEVER SPREADS TO KHOTANG, 50 SICK Kathmandu, 5 Sept : Forty people have fallen sick due to viral fever at Halesi in Khotang district, the Sub-health Post, Halesi stated, RSS reports from Khotang.. Forty of the 55 people who had come to the sub-health post seeking treatment for headache, fever and fainting were found to be suffering from viral fever, said Assistant Health Worker Ram Kumar Bhagat. The sub-health post has been receiving a large number of viral fever cases since couple of days back and if the trend continues it will run out of drugs, said Bhagat. nnnn CIAA TO INVESTIGATE POLICE PURCHASES AT INFLATED COSTS Kathmandu, 5 Sept.: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) today asked Nepal Police to clarify on alleged irregularities into the purchase of arms and ammunition from a Hong Kong based arms and ammunition Company, The Himalayan Times reports. A source at the anti-graft body said it has sent a letter to Inspector General of Nepal Police Rabindra Pratap Shah to clarify on the corruption involving millions of rupees in the purchase of arms and ammunition. “He has been asked to send the original file of the arms and ammunition purchase deal,” the source added. The CIAA move follows complaints against the involvement of influential police officials in irregularities. The complaint states that influential police officials were involved in irregularities in the purchase of tear gas, shot guns and riot-shield arms at inflated prices. The source claimed that Nepal Police purchased riot-shield at US$ 60 per piece, while it was purchased by the Armed Police Force at US $ 25. Each tear gas shell was cost Nepal Police US $45, while it cost the Armed Police Force US $ 18. Binod Singh, DIG, Headquarters, said police would look into the matter once after they received the letter. nnnn