Kathmandu, August 30

Patan High Court held the former minister and Chair of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi) leader Shyam Sundar Gupta and four other defendants guilty of human trafficking and imposed a jail term of 10 years and a fine of Rs 100,000 on them.

Patan High Court held Gupta and other defendants Akash Lama alias Bikas Lama, Jit Bahadur Gole, Amir Acharya and Kishor Pandey guilty of kidnapping a businessman Pawan Kumar Sanghai and taking him hostage, said the court Registrar Baburam Dahal.

PHC overturned Kathmandu District Court’s verdict that held these defendants only guilty of attempt to kidnapping and hostage taking and  held them guilty of these offences.

The verdict was delivered by a bench of judges Guna Raj Dhungel and Tek Prasad Dhungana.

Gupta was arrested by police from Bhairahawa on 16 January 2012 on charges of kidnapping and hostage taking, and was convicted by Kathmandu District Court on 31 May 2015.

District Attorney Office, Kathmandu had filed a kidnapping case against Gupta on 9 February 2012.

Sanghai was kidnapped on 22 December 2011 from Kamaladi. The government had filed a memorandum of appeal at the PHC four years ago. Gupta and other defendants were convicted for kidnapping Sanghai and keeping him hostage for 20 days in Kavrepalanchowk district. They were accused of demanding Rs 8.5 million in ransom from him.

Kathmandu District Court had imposed a seven-year jail term on Gupta but he could walk out of jail after three years and six months as the remaining sentence was waived.

Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur had arrested Gupta from Lalitpur on September 2016, on charges of extortion.

Police held Gupta after receiving a complaint that he intimidated and tried to extort money from a woman entrepreneur.