Kathmandu, February 12

The Metropolitan Police Crime Division has apprehended two persons, who threatened to kidnap students of Gyaneshwor-based Galaxy Public School and son of Geeta Rana, the school’s principal, for ransom.

Cops in civvies deployed from the MPCD had arrested Pralhad Shrestha (44) of Thamel with Rs 50,000 from Naxal and Pramod Raj Panta (42) of Balaju from Lake Side, Pokhara earlier this week.

SSP Sarbendra Khanal, MPCD in-charge, said Panta had used as many as 17 mobile phone numbers to call Rana, who is also a Member of Parliament, and threatened to kidnap her son as well as students if the ransom was not paid.

“Rana had lodged a complaint with the MPCD seeking legal action against the culprits after she received calls from different phone numbers with the caller threatening to kidnap her son and students,” Khanal informed.

Panta is the operator of Horse Show Resort Mountain in Sindhupalchowk.

Krishna Kamal Khatri, owner of the land in which the resort is built, had also sought police assistance to initiate action against Panta as he refused to pay the lease amount.

On September 4, 2008, the Kathmandu District Court had sentenced Panta to two years in jail, along with a fine of Rs 9.1 million on a forgery case.

He filed an appeal against the verdict at the Patan Appellate Court.

Man swindled of two million

KATHMANDU: The MPCD arrested Devendra Kumar Bartaula (44) of Kathmandu for swindling two million rupees from person promising him a seat in the Parliament.

SSP Khanal, of the MPCD, said Bartaula had swindled Hari Krishna Shrestha, a district-level Nepali Congress leader of Sindhupalchowk, promising him a seat in the Parliament.

“Bartaula took the victim into confidence, saying he had good rapport with central-level NC and Indian leaders,” said SSP Khanal.

Bartaula had told Shrestha that it would cost him five million rupees to become a CA member.

Similarly, Bartaula had allegedly defrauded Bhimsen Shrestha, Kanchha Shrestha and Hasta Bahadur Shrestha of Sindhupalchowk of Rs 1.5 million promising the latter visa to Canada and other countries.