Woman held for fraud made public

Pokhara, January 22

Kaski police today made public a woman arrested for swindling millions of rupees from different individuals in Pokhara.

Organising a press meet on the premises of Kaski District Police Office, police made public Sarita Kumari Rana, 42, of Badigard Rural Municipality, Baglung. She was living in Pokhara for the past two years.

Superintendent of Police Om Rana of Kaski DPO said Sarita had borrowed money from various persons on different pretexts. Rana, who went missing for the past ten days, was arrested from Durbarmarg of Kathmandu last Sunday. As many as eight cases related to swindling have been filed against her in Kaski DPO.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Rabindraman Gurung of Kaski DPO, various individuals from Kathmandu too are registering verbal complaints against Rana. At the press meet, Dilmaya Pun Rana of Pokhara said Sarita had swindled Rs 17 million from her. “After coming to know each other, Sarita started coming to my home and she became like a family member as relations grew strong. At first, she asked for a few thousand rupees, which she returned on time. Later, she asked for 17 million and I loaned her the amount,” Dilmaya said.

Gold shop proprietor Janaklal Lohar of  Arghuachowk, Pokhara, said he had given Rs 1.2 million to Rana. Rana used to purchase gold with cash from the jeweller and she also took other customers to the shop. “At one point, she asked for Rs 1.2 million. She also gave a cheque of NIC Asia Bank. When I went to the bank for cash, the check bounced,” Lohar said.

Eight people, including Jit Bahadur Pun, Naramaya Thapa Magar, Tara Pun Thapa, Chandra Bahadur Thapa and Dilmaya Pun have registered cases against Rana for swindling them. More than 50 people have had their names registered at the police office saying that Rana had swindled them.

At the press meet, Sarita admitted she had borrowed money from different people for buying real estate and had fled as her financial situation started to deteriorate.