Kathmandu, November 5:

The police today nabbed seven people affiliated to the so-called Spider Gang that was involved in several cases of extortion in the capital.

SP at the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Hanumandhoka, Devendra Subedi said Madhav GC of Kakani-8 of Nuwakot was the mastermind of the gang. Nirmal Thapaliya alias Nagendra of Bhadratar-4 of Nuwakot and Kumar Pathak of Chaugada-3 of the same district are the major members of the gang, who along with three more persons working for the gang, are still at large, the police said.

Those arrested are Surya Lama, 19, of Nuwakot; Bikram Majhi, 30, of Thoksila-3 in Udayapur;

Raju Shrestha, 29, of Irkhu-5 in Sindhupalchowk; Narayan Gurung alias Bijay, 21, of Likhu of Nuwakot; Bishal Gurung alias Boka, 24, of Syamjong-8 in Dhading and Suraj Gurung, 17, of Bungtang-7 in Nuwakot. The police said they have been hunting for Hari Tamang alias Gagan, 28, of Manedoramba-4 in Dolakha; Shyam Lama, 26, of Morang and Rajesh Limbu, 30, of Dhading.

Subedi said GC used to deal with the victims by using several names including Prabhat, Gaurav, Umesh, Rajesh and Brajesh. GC had been arrested some four years ago as well for extorting businessmen in the name of Maoists. He was arrested on January 11 for extorting people in the name of Fire and Fighter Group but was released on July 1.

Police seized two motorbikes, six mobile phone sets, four ATM cards, seven SIM cards, gold rings and a wrist watch from the gang. The gang had extorted money from over 30 persons and organisations.

Subedi appealed to people to cooperate with the police to nab such criminals.

The gang used to hire people to thrash those refusing to give in to their demands. They had used fake identities and signatures to open bank accounts, acquire ATM cards and driving licenses.

Chief of the MPCD SSP Upendra Kanta Aryal said police were facing difficulty to trace the criminals as they used to use e-phones and other people’s SIM cards to execute their plans and the victims were not cooperating with the police.

In most of the cases, the gang used not to accept cash but asked the victims to deposit the money in bank accounts. Out of 33 victims of the gang, only one had approached the police and most of the victims were Marwaris.