Three Pakistanis arrested in Nepal for kidnapping compatriot

KATHMANDU: Three Pakistani nationals have been arrested by Nepal Police in Kathmandu on the charge of kidnapping and holding their compatriot hostage for ransom after luring him with a promise of a lucrative job in Canada, local police authorities said.

The arrested Pakistani nationals have been identified as Mohamad Rashid, 30, Mohamad Asif, 35, and Mohamad Fida Hussain, 35, according to the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office under the Nepal Police.

Police investigation has revealed that the three Pakistani nationals invited their fellow countryman Mohamad Sami Khan to Kathmandu giving a false hope that the visa process to Canada would be much easier from Nepal than from Pakistan.

Accordingly, Khan came to Nepal on a tourist visa on January 7. Then, the Pakistanis took him to a hotel in Thamel, downtown Kathmandu. The very next day, on January 8, they took him to Budhanilkantha area, held him hostage at a rented house and demanded a ransom of 2.6 million Nepali rupees.

The kidnappers asked the victim to telephone his brother in Pakistan so that they can get the money immediately.

After receiving the ransom amount, the kidnapper left Sami Khan halfway at Sinamangal area in Kathmandu and ran away.

Acting on a complaint filed by the victim at Tourist Police in Kathmandu, a joint team of police from the District Police Range, Kathmandu and Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, launched a massive search operation across the Nepali capital.

Three days after the kidnapping, local police authorities nabbed all the Pakistani nationals from Budhanilkantha area.

Krishna Prasad Koirala, a spokesperson for the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, said that the Pakistanis have been charged for abduction under the Criminal Code Act (2017) of Nepal.

“They will be sent to jail once our investigation is over,” Koirala told India Narrative.

This is not the first time that Pakistani nationals are found to have been involved in criminal activities in Nepal. Mostly, they are arrested for being involved in fake Indian currency notes in Nepal.

(Santosh Ghimire is India Narrative’s Nepal correspondent based in Kathmandu)