Kathmandu, February 1:

The Maoist-affiliated Young communist League (YCL) today handed over four alleged drug smugglers to police along with a country-made pistol, bullet and a cache of banned drugs.

The YCL caught them with a haul of banned drugs (6,500 ampoules of Diazepam, 6,500 ampoules of Noophin, a packet of Avil and two ampoules of Dextrose), 10 kilograms of hashish, half a kilogram of brown sugar and a truck used to ferry smuggled drugs from Raxaul, according to a statement by the YCL.

The YCL cadres caught them from Soaltee Mode, Koteshwor and Kalanki areas over a week on tip-offs by former drug addicts currently “recuperating” in the YCL-operated Nawa Jivan Sudhar Kendra in the Balaju Industrial Estate-based YCL headquarters. Valley in-charge of the YCL Chandra Bahadur Thapa aka Sagar made public the names of the accused and the haul at a press conference in the YCL headquarters.

The drug smugglers were identified as Manish Manandhar, 18, of Kathmandu Metropolis-20, who was caught with a country-made pistol and one 9 mm bullet, Jaya Bahadur Kathayet, 40, of Chhatiwan VDC, Makwanpur who was caught with 10 kilograms of hashish, truck driver Navaraj Gurung, 23, of Mangalpur VDC, Chitwan and Bikram Thapa, 27, of Gaon Shahar VDC, Lamjung, who was caught with 13,000 ampoules of Diazepam, Noophin and Dextrose.

Labels showed the drugs were manufactured in Barauni and Delhi. Sagar said they had informed officials of the Narcotic Drug Control Section under the Home Ministry to be present at the press conference so they could hand over the accused to them along with the smuggled drugs.

But the YCL cadres destroyed the drugs on the premises of the YCL office as the officials did not turn up. They handed over the accused to police from the Metropolitan Police Circle, Balaju after the press conference.

“Legal action will be taken against the four on the charge of possessing illegal arms,” said

police inspector Ramesh Basnet.

Kathayet told media persons that he brought the hashish from Bhalubang in Dang. Truck driver Gurung said he ferried the drugs from Birgunj and one person named Sanjaya asked him to hand them over to Bikram Thapa, who was also caught by the YCL. “I did not know they were banned drugs,” Gurung said. Thapa admitted that the drugs were dispatched by Sanjaya, but said he did not know his full address. “I was under YCL control for 12 days and they tortured me during interrogation,” Thapa said.