Five held for seeking ransom

Biratnagar, September 2

Police have arrested five persons on the charge of looting two traders at gunpoint in Morang.

The arrested are Indian national Raju Sah, 27, Kisan Sah, 26, Rabin Sharma, 28, Abhisek Raya, 27 and Nanda Kishor Sah, 26.

The arrested had sought ransom from a gutkha trader and another trader of computer parts. They had robbed Rs 1.1 million from Naresh Sah’s home last time. Sah is the proprietor of China Bazaar in Biratnagar.

The arrested Indian national is an employee of China Bazaar.

District Police Office SP Santosh Khadka said that one of the two traders had handed over Rs five lakh in ransom to the gang of five criminals.

The criminal group had sought ransom separately from two traders on July 9 and July 28 respectively. One trader had submitted Rs one lakh to the group at Biratnagar’s Gudri Bazaar and Rs four lakh at Kanchanbari Chowk. They had threatened another trader and asked for Rs one million. He had reported to the police following the threat.

SP Khadka said the group had robbed Rs 1.1 million from the house of Naresh Sah a few days ago. The group had distributed the ransom received from the trader among themselves.

The stolen money from Naresh Sah’s home is in the bank. The process of returning the money from the bank has started, said SP Khadka.

According to police, the criminal group had been threatening traders at gunpoint.

The group had purchased a pistol and six bullets from India. They had fired three bullets at Naresh Sah’s home. Police have recovered one pistol, three bullets and Rs 97,000 cash, 16 mobile phone sets, three motorbikes and one knife from the culprits.

Acting on a tip-off, police had nabbed five people. SP Khadka added that Abhisek was the mastermind of the group and had been extorting money from traders for a long time.

The identities of the traders have been kept confidential.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 3, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.