KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 24

Police have arrested a person for allegedly using women to rob motorcycle-borne men of their belongings.

According to Metropolitan Police Crime Division, the mastermind behind the gang is Lal Bahadur Shrestha, 49, of Shailung Rural Municipality, Dolakha. He was taken into custody from Lalitpur yesterday nearly five months after a robbery.

On July 23, an unidentified woman asked Bhola Bahadur Jarga Magar for lift on his motorcycle in Ratnapark saying that she did not get any public vehicle to go to Kalanki due to the lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

After repeated request from the woman who said she was stranded in Ratnapark, Magar offered to drop her in Kalanki. As Magar took the woman to her destination, a gang of robbers rounded him up and robbed him of a gold chain weighing six tolas, two mobile phone sets, sun glasses and Rs 7,000 cash.

Following the incident, Magar filed a complaint at the MPCD. Officials said it took them nearly five months to investigate the robbery and arrest Shrestha, the mastermind behind the incident. According to MPCD, Shrestha would use women who pretended to be stranded on the road and ask motorcyclists for lift. However, police are yet to arrest the women being used by Shrestha for robbery.

MPCD said various men were robbed of their belongings by the Shrestha-led gang. It has launched further investigation to nab other gang members, including the women.

Meanwhile, police have appealed to everyone not to offer lift to strangers on their motorcycles while riding bikes with ornaments and other valuables.