Kathmandu, April 8

The District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu has permitted the police to remand Sulav Agrawal, executive director of Shanker Group, in custody for seven days for further investigation.

On Tuesday, the police had arrested Agrawal, who is also Nepal’s honorary consul for Kyrgyzstan, on charge of black-marketing of infrared thermometers, used for remotely measuring body temperature amid its high demand in the wake of the novel coronavirus spread.

Agrawal was caught selling infrared thermometers at Rs 16,000, though the device is valued at Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 in the local market.

The police had arrested him red-handed as he was negotiating with police who were in the guise of businessmen. Police had also confiscated 67 thermometer guns from his possession. Following this, the police had sought DAO’s permission to keep Agrawal in custody.

Nepal Police informed that they are investigating the case. Should Agrawal be found guilty, he could face imprisonment of up to seven years, as per DAO sources.

However, police sources said that Agrawal had refuted the charges of black-marketing levelled against him during interrogation.

Shanker Group is a renowned business house in the country with the group’s businesses spread across various sectors, including cement, steel, textiles, hospitality, among others. Shanker Group had imported 20,000 thermal guns from China on a chartered flight last week, as per police.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 09, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.