Kathmandu, July 13

Statistics published by Metropolitan Police Office show kidnapping has become a common phenomenon in Kathmandu Valley.

MPO recorded 13 kidnapping cases during 11 months of the current fiscal. An equal number of kidnapping cases were reported in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

As many as 11 kidnapping cases were recorded in 2014-15, the lowest in the last three fiscals. This shows that the crime of kidnapping has grown since 2014-15.

Criminal rackets and even police personnel were found to have been involved in kidnapping-for-ransom incidents. On March 15, police arrested four persons, including two sub-inspectors, for their alleged involvement in holding a man hostage and collecting ransom from him.

The suspects were Raj Kumar Gurung aka Kumar, 34, of Rupendehi district; Arjun Bahadur Lama, 39, of Kavre district; Sambat Tamang, 32, of Kapan in Kathmandu; and Surya Bahadur Thapa (42) of Jhapa district.

Tamang and Thapa were policemen deployed at Metropolitan Police Circle, Gaushala. They four took Badri Rai, 43, a manpower agent, under control after knowing he had some gold in his possession.

On June 17, the Central Investigation Bureau busted a ‘honey trap’ gang that had been kidnapping people for ransom and arrested two of its members, including a teenage girl, who lured men into dangerous situations. The gang had hired the teenage girl with a promise of hefty cash.

According to police, ransom is the prime motive behind kidnappings, although some cases involve dispute over monetary dealings.

Officials said nearly 50 per cent of kidnapping cases turn out fake. In an instance of self-kidnapping, police exposed a fake kidnapping staged by Madan Giri, a man fielded by Naya Shakti Party Nepal as its candidate for ward chief of Nagarjun Municipality-7, Kathmandu, in the first phase of local level elections.

The Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, had launched search and rescue operation after it received a complaint of Giri’s ‘abduction’ from Sorhakhutte. Police investigation did not establish this as a kidnapping case and said Giri might have gone out of contact for his personal reasons.