Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, February 20:

Along with the rise in the number of cases of fraud, the Valley has seen an increase in the number of kidnappings as well, according to the Valley police.

Pointing to the coincidence in the rising rate of such crimes, DIG at Valley Police Office, Ranipokhari, Ashok Kumar Shrestha said, “Police are not legally entitled to prosecute financial fraudsters. And this legal hurdle has contributed to the emergence and increase in the number of kidnapping cases in the Valley.”

Earlier, the Valley police offices had been asked not to deal with cases regarding financial transactions. “But considering the result — increased kidnappings — police have recently been asked to look into such cases informally and prosecute such criminals as public offenders,” he said.

An official at the Kathmandu District Police Office (KDPO) litigation section said that in the recent months the office has been receiving around five to nine complaints regarding kidnapping a month on an average, while kidnapping complaints were rare in previous years.

According to a KDPO report, 43 persons were prosecuted for public offence in July-August, 45 in August-September, while 38 cases of public offence were filed at the Kathmandu District Court in September-October. The number was 46 in October-November, 54 in November-December, and 46 in December-January.

“The number is more than double than in previous years,” said DSP Hari Bahadur Pal of KDPO.

Police have also been asked to look into the cases because of the possible emergence of professional men who could be hired to do the job.

Police have been informed there are three or four gangs are operating in the Valley that can be hired to recover lost money . But their fee is “25 per cent of the recovered amount”, according to police.

DSP Pal said most Valley folks make financial deals without written documents. “When one party deceives the other, the ‘cheated’ party has no option to recover its money other than by the use of threats or kidnapping,” he said.

“For around half the number of such cases, we usually find a mutual solution. Only a few cases land up in courts. As we don’t have legal provisions to prosecute kidnappers, we charge them with public offence,” Pal said. “If a case is related to foreign employment, we send it to the labour department.”

SSP Binod Singh of the Valley Crime Investigation Branch said police were charging fraudsters with public offence due to the lack of law on kidnapping.