'Rs 1m looted in broad daylight'

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: The Metropolitan Police Sector Janasewa pressed police personnel and sniffer dogs into service today after a Kirtipur-based draper, Rajesh Kapali, reported that a person robbed him of one million rupees near the sector, a high-security zone, in broad daylight and vanished in the crowd.

In his complaint with police, Rajesh said an unidentified man snatched his bag containing the money drawn from the New Road-based Himalayan Bank when he was hailing a cab to go home at around 1 pm.

“I chased him (the robber) for a few minutes, but in vain. He quickly vanished in the busy crowd,” an investigating official quoted Kapali.

Rajesh stated that his brother had sent the money from Denmark. The bank has verified the cash withdrawal, police said. However, investigators smelt a rat and detained Kapali for two hours as he reported the incident to police an hour later. They released him on the condition that he would report to police when summoned.

“Though Kapali said he chased the robber for a while, we could not find a single eyewitness to establish the incident. We have launched an investigation to establish the truth,” DSP Dhiraj Pratap Singh informed.

According to police, CCTV cameras installed in New Road could not capture the footage due to load-shedding in the afternoon.

Rs 10m robbery bid foiled

KATHMANDU: Leaders of the Indigenous Nationalities Joint Struggle Committee said on Sunday they are gearing up for a massive movement to ensure identity-based federalism. Addressing an interaction organised by the Association of Nepali Indigenous Nationalities Journalists (ANIJ) on the role of the media in identity-based federalism, committee convener Parsuram Tamang said the parties have been buying time and seeking excuse to dissolve the CA. He said the movement of undivided Far-West is a grand design of the major parties to undermine the demands of the indigenous people. He said the committee is planning a massive movement, asking indigenous journalists to disseminate information about its activities. He accused the media of discriminating against the indigenous people. NEFIN general secretary Aang Kaji Sherpa said Constituent Assembly members from the CPN-UML have decided to boycott the party’s function to mark Madan Bhandari’s death anniversary. —