KATHMANDU: Dharan Police arrested four people for their involvement in the smuggling of marijuana.
The arrested are 23-year-old Bijaya Rai and Madan Rai alias Aite Rai of Shahidbhumi Rural Municipality, Dhankuta, Nar Bahadur Rai, 35, of Pakhribas Municipality, Dhankuta and Raj Kumar Sah, 36, of Biratnagar Metropolitan City-13, said DSP Suman Kumar Timsina of Area Police Office, Dharan.
Timsina further shared that the police also arrested Sah for trying to bribe police with Rs 50,000 to release the arrested with the marijuana.
Police intercepted them with the contraband at Shivdhara in Dharan while they were heading to Dharan from Dhankuta in a tempo.
BUTWAL: It has been revealed that Sahin Khatun, the wife of Feroj Ansari, who was shot dead in Mainabagar of Rupandehi last Wednesday, was involved in her husband’s murder.
Police said Khatun was in love with her 42-year-old brother-in-law Sadhir Husein of Betiya, India that ultimately led to the murder of Ansari.
Sahin who had been living with her husband in Butwal for the last 20 years fell in love with her own brother-in-law, according to police report.
Sahir, who came to Butwan on Wednesday afternoon, had plotted to kill Ansari in cahoots with his sister-in-law and shot him dead in the evening upon his arrival from his office.
Rupandehi Police said they will coordinate with the Indian police to arrest the murder-accused Husein.
The victim, Feroz Khan, 45, was an employee at the Auto Village at Mainanagar, Butwal, police.
He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Lumbini Provincial Hospital.
KATHMANDU: Charles Shobraj, a notorious French serial killer, also labeled as Bikini Killer for the attire of his victims, is serving life imprisonment in Nepal for the murder of two foreigners in Nepal. The septuagenarian is accused of murdering 12 foreigners.
Likewise, Peter John Dalglish, a Canadian humanitarian worker, and former United Nations staff is in judicial custody for pedophilia. Not only Dalglish, British national Iain Robert Cole was nabbed on the charge of sexually exploiting under-age male children. He is currently serving a jail term.
Indians have topped the number of inmates and detainees in Nepali prisons while the second spot has been occupied by Chinese nationals. Most of the foreigners arrested in Nepal have been accused of drugs smuggling and a few sexual assaults.
These are only representative examples of foreigners spending days at different prisons in Nepal for crimes. Some 1,125 foreign prisoners and detainees are in Nepali prisons.
Department of Prison Management informed that they have been kept at 74 prisons and three child reform homes. According to Director General of the Department of Prison Management Hari Prasad Mainali, the highest number of 209 foreigners are kept at the Sundhara-based Jagganath Dewal Prison and remaining others are kept at 34 different prisons in Parsa, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Lalitpur and Kailali among other districts.
Indians have topped the number of inmates and detainees in Nepali prisons while the second spot has been occupied by Chinese nationals. Most of the foreigners arrested in Nepal have been accused of drugs smuggling and a few sexual assaults.
According to Nepal Police Spokesperson Uttamraj Subedi, Indian and Pakistani inmates and detainees are accused of involvement in cases of counterfeit currency, forgery, and drugs smuggling. Likewise, inmates and detainees of African and European descents are facing cases of drugs smuggling and forged passports.
Govt spending over Rs 70 million on foreign inmates
The government has been doling out 700 grams of rice and Rs 60 to prisoners on a daily basis. Besides this, they are entitled to Dashain, maternity, clothes and medical treatment among other allowances.
According to the Department of Prison, the government is spending Rs 500 per prisoner on a monthly basis. According to the Department, Rs 5.6 million is spent monthly as ration and allowances for foreign inmates. The amount stands at Rs 67.5 million yearly and adding miscellaneous costs takes the figure to over Rs 70 million.
Foreigners at Nepali prisons
Jagganath Dewal Prison, Kathmandu: 209
Parsa District Prison: 108
Jhapa District Prison: 93
Regional Prison Sunsari, Jhumka: 81
Nakkhu Prison, Lalitpur: 81
Makwanpur District Prison: 53
Banke District Prison: 52
Morang District Prison: 44
Kailali District Prison: 32
Dillibazaar Prison: 27
Mahottari District Prison: 26
Kaski District Prison: 26
Rautahat District Prison: 23
Rupandehi District Prison: 20
Chitwan District Prison: 19
Saptari District Prison: 14
Kapilvastu District Prison: 13
Nawalparasi District Prison: 13
Palpa District Prison: 12
Others: 53
Total: 1,125
Source: Department of Prison Management
DHADING: Police arrested a person in possession of a huge cache of contraband narcotics from Gajuri in Dhading district.
A team from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of Nepal Police and Area Police Office, Gajuri, arrested Sukumaya Tamang of Gajuri, police informed.
The police team seized 110 kg of hashish, 32 kg of powder used to prepare hashish, 390 kg of marijuana mixed powder and 109 kg of marijuana seeds.
The contraband was kept at Tamang’s house. A case would be filed against Tamang, according to police.
KATHMANDU: A total of 120 cases of violence against women (VAW) have been recorded in Nepal from mid-January to mid-February, Women’s Rehabilitation Center (WOREC Nepal) said.
According to WOREC, 28 rapes, 35 cases of physical violence, 17 mental violence, 11 deprivation from amenities, and nine murders were reported during the period.
Likewise, six cases of sexual misconduct have been reported.
A press statement issued by WOREC said, among the victims, those from 17-25 were the most affected.
KATHMANDU: Unbridled wild-life poaching, destruction of wildlife habitats, shortage of food, and trade of wildlife body parts are posing serious threats to wildlife conservation.
An analysis on the records of the seized body parts of wild animals and an investigation of the people arrested in connection with the smuggling of the banned body parts of animals reveal that poachers are using Nepal as a transit point, said former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Hemanta Malla.
International smugglers including from India are using Nepal as a transit point for smuggling body parts of the wild animals.
In the last nine years, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police carried out a total of 278 operations leading to the arrest of 633 individuals, and a seizure of a large of amount of wildlife body parts.
In recent days, poachers have been targeting mostly rhinos, tigers, leopards, bears, red panda and pangolin for their body parts, according to the statistics maintained by the Nepal Police.
Poachers mainly target a rhino’s horn and hide while the tigers and leopards are hunted for their hide. Similarly, a bear is poached for its gall bladder and claws while a pangolin for its scales. Others targets of poachers are pythons, eagles and owls.
The conservation of leopard, pangolin and red panda have become challenging in recent times in Nepal, according to police.
Police have seized only a pangolin alive along with its scales. Besides, they have also recovered hides of three leopards, their claws and teeth.
A police investigation shows that animal body parts are smuggled to China, Vietnam, Japan, and Cambodia in cahoots with locals through a coordinated network.
Poaching of these rare animals occurs in Nepal, according to Anupam Rana, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
Poaching of leopard, red panda and pangolin has increased in the past three years.
Nepal emerging as a transit point for smugglers
International smugglers including from India are using Nepal as a transit point for smuggling body parts of the wild animals.
A police investigation shows that animal body parts are smuggled to China, Vietnam, Japan, and Cambodia in cahoots with locals through a coordinated network.
Only the porters hired by smugglers get arrested.
The porters are from working family background and are uneducated while the smugglers are powerful having a connection with the international mafia, according to DSP Rana, who is also a spokesperson of the CIB.
Legal provision
The transaction of wildlife body parts is a crime against the National Wildlife and Convention Act, 1973 and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), 1975.
Those who commit such crimes are sentenced from five to 15 years in prison along with a fine of Rs 50,000 to 100,000.
Nepal Police, Nepal Army, Department of Forest, Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation are mobilized for the conservation of wildlife.
Similarly, some non-government organizations are also contributing to wildlife conservation.
Wildlife smuggling in Nepal can be controlled only through sound coordination among all the stakeholders, said former DIG Malla.
KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court today issued an ordinance to the government whether Charles Sobhraj, a notorious killer should be entitled to reduction in his sentence as a senior citizen.
The ordinance requires the government to reach a decision in regards to the ‘bikini killer’ within three months.
The ordinance was issued by the joint bench of justices: Ishwor Khatiwada and Bam Kumar Shrestha. The court had acted on a writ petition filed by advocate Shakuntala Thapa.
She is the mother of Nihita Bishwas, Charles’ beloved. Advocate Thapa in her petition had made the demand citing the age factor of Charles who is now 75. Charles is in for life imprisonment at the Central Jail, at Sundhara in the capital city.
SAPTARI: Police arrested two men on the charge of raping a 20-year-old girl in the district.
The culprits have been identified as Bhim Mukhiya and Bharat Mukhiya of Kanchanrup Municipality-5.
The duo have been accused of luring the differently-abled girl and raping her by taking her to the Koshitappu Wildlife Reserve.
KATHMANDU: Usha Manandhar, 25, a nurse at the Medacity Hospital was heading towards her residence at around 8 o’clock on Friday night at Nakhhu in Lalitpur when she heard a loud bang of a bomb that exploded near the Ncell office.
She got injured in the explosion and fell down unconscious. When she gained her sense, she was in the hospital.
Pratikshya Khadka, 26, a resident of Bagdol in Lalitpur, too, was heading towards her residence and fell victim to the same explosion. Both Manandhar and Khadka are improving gradually, according to Dr. Anil Acharya at the Medicity Hospital.
However, victim Singha Prasad Gurung, 49, a resident of Bhainsepati area lost his life. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has assured that the government will bear the treatment cost of the injured and that the culprits in the incident will be brought to justice.
Likewise, a few moments later after the Nakhhu incident, a pressure cooker bomb was found near the Aangan Sweets, a restaurant at Kamalpokhari in Kathmandu. A bomb squad from the Nepal army immediately diffused the bomb.
Likewise, Ncell towers were torched in different locations yesterday night, one at Chandrakalika hill in Pokhara and the other at Shuklaphanta Municipality-4 in Kanchanpur district.
Series of blasts in several parts of the country by unidentified groups has alerted the police administration. “We are now on high alert,” said Uttam Raj Subedi, spokesperson of Nepal Police.
The police has initiated a manhunt after the incident, said Rabindra Dhanuk, the Chief at the Lalitpur Metropolitan Police.
Police have taken some people in custody in connection with the incident but are yet to identify the culprits. The police suspect that Biplab group is behind the incident. That is because the Biplab group, a breakaway faction of the then Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had issued warnings to Ncell over charges of not paying tax to the government, not following the Supreme Court order, and deceiving its clients.
KATHMANDU: Drug trafficking, its consumption, and production, which have been the most serious issue across the world, have not spared Nepal, too.
It has been the most challenging task to crack down on the internationally organized network of drug traffickers across the world despite efforts made by law enforcing agencies.
Police have been keeping a close tab on drug-trafficking and have been arresting drug traffickers. However, the number of incidents has gone up in an unprecedented manner.
On December 16, Nepal Police arrested a Canadian national Denis Lapage with 2.985 kilograms of hashish at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
Drug trafficking has been a major income source for purchasing weapons which are used in the war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, African countries Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Mali, and Congo.
According to DIG Dinesh Amatya, spokesperson of Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), the 61-year-old Denis was arrested during a security check possessing the drug while he was about to board a flight to Thailand.
This was only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the records maintained by the Nepal Police Headquarters, a total of 741 people, mostly Indian nationals, were arrested in the period of five years –2013 to 2018. Other include nationals from 33 countries such as Pakistan, China, Malaysia, Bolivia, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Canada, and Brazil.
Drug trafficking has been a major income source for purchasing weapons which are used in the war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, African countries Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Mali, and Congo.
Details of foreigners held
According to the information provided by the Nepal Police Headquarters, and NCB, as many as 152 foreigners have been held in 2014 for trafficking drugs via the route of Nepal. Similarly, 124 were arrested in 2015, 139 in 2016, and 159 in 2017. Similarly, in 2018, as many as 167 foreigners were arrested, police informed. Some of those arrested are women.
Nepal turning into a drug trafficking transit point
Analysts have said that drug traffickers chose Nepal as a transit point for trafficking drugs taking advantage of its weak security system. A large amount of drug is trafficked to India and vice versa through the Nepal-India open border checkpoints. Brown sugar, heroin, and cocaine are brought to Nepal from India while marijuana, hashish, and opium are supplied to India from Nepal.
Similarly, cocaine is produced in South American countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Cocaine is supplied targeting affluent countries since it is very expensive.
Most of the drugs manufactured in South Asia come to Nepal via India before they are trafficked to Europe and America from Kathmandu.
Where and who manufactures drugs?
Narcotic drugs especially, opium and heroin are manufactured in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Similarly, they are also produced on the border areas of Thailand, Burma, and Vietnam, including some parts of Nepal.
Heroin is the major income source for carrying out terrorist activities in the war-torn countries across the world, said former AIG Debendra Subedi.
Similarly, cocaine is produced in South American countries such as Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Cocaine is supplied targeting affluent countries since it is very expensive.
Drugs, which are used in Nepal include white heroin, raw brown sugar, marijuana, hashish among others.
Drug-trafficking has multi-faceted ramifications
Drug consumption, production, and trafficking have been the most serious problem in the world, of late.
According to former AIG Subedi, the drug is not only an addiction but has multi-faceted problems.
The income made through drug trafficking is used to promote the culture of corruption, terrorism, and crimes. It is also used to exert pressure on the government, power politics among others.