Former Indian Police Officers Arrested While Kidnapping Chinese Scammer in Nepal: Caught During Transit to India
Kathmandu : Former Indian police officers who came to Nepal to kidnap a Chinese scammer were arrested after kidnapping their target from Thamel, Kathmandu. The Nepal Police successfully rescued the Chinese national and arrested four of the kidnappers during a dramatic operation in Makwanpur district.
They kidnapped a Chinese citizen forcibly outside Hotel Kathmandu Square in Thamel's Nursing Chowk on January 14 at 1:25 PM. The kidnapping was carried out using a Kia Cerens car, which bore the Indian registration number-MH 16 DG 4904.
The police control room received information about the incident at 3 PM, almost two hours after the abduction. Teams from the Kathmandu District Police and the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office were immediately mobilized. Analysis of CCTV footage showed that the vehicle had moved south through Pharping towards Dakshinkali.
Search and Rescue Operation
The police had set up checkpoints in Sisneri and Bhimphedi, Makwanpur, but the kidnappers had managed to evade it. At Bhimphedi, the abductors abandoned their vehicle and fled into the jungle with the Chinese national.
At around 8 to 11 PM, police arrested three Indian nationals in a search operation. One kidnapper and the Chinese victim jumped down the cliff while trying to escape. The Chinese national, Wu Huan Huan, was safely rescued at 12:30 AM on January 16 from a truck in Pharping while trying to return to Kathmandu, based on local information.
The Arrested Suspects
Four of the five Indian nationals involved in the kidnapping have been arrested:
- Ashutosh Dattatray Thorat (33), Maharashtra
- Afsar Yunus Sheikh (40), Maharashtra
- Amol Kharmate (30), Pune
- Ambadas Sirsat (30), Pune
One suspect remains at large.
Motive Behind the Kidnapping
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the incident is connected with an online scam of around 3 crore nepali rupees. The Indian nationals had supplied the bank account details and online transaction information to Chinese nationals with the promise of getting 2% commission in return.
After these accounts were allegedly used to scam people in India, complaints were filed against the Indian account holders. The suspects arrived in Nepal on January 13, planning to either negotiate with the Chinese national or kidnap them to India when negotiations failed.
International Implications
The case has brought to the fore the global networking of cyber fraud and its implications across borders. It also begs questions of how Nepal's capital is becoming a target for international crimes and whether increased security measures are in place.
This makes the case all the more diplomatically sensitive since former Indian police personnel were found to have been involved in the kidnapping attempt of a suspected Chinese scammer on Nepali soil. The case started attracting increased scrutiny from both the Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Kathmandu.
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