By Nayak Paudel
Kathmandu, Oct 1: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested an individual involved in kidnapping Nepalis in Malaysia for ransom from Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Issuing a press-statement on Wednesday, CIB made public the arrested individual as 44-year-old Durga Bahadur Shrestha aka David. David operates a Nepal corner canteen at Top Glove Company in Malaysia.
David, with the help of his wife Dhan Maya Shrestha, a Bhutanese citizen, and driver Shyam Nepali had kidnapped Madhma Raidas, a resident from Dang who had been working in Malaysia, and held him hostage for a week. The kidnappers then contacted Raidas’s wife in Nepal and demanded 60,000 MYR (Malaysian ringgit) as ransom.
Raidas’s wife was told to deposit the amount in the bank account of Durga Bahadur Shrestha at Himalayan Bank as they threatened to kill Raidas if the amount was not deposited. Left with no choice as her husband was kidnapped in Malaysia, Raidas’s wife deposited a total of Rs. 1,592,000 in the bank account in instalments. Raidas was then released but his passport was seized by David, disallowing hi m to return to Nepal.
Following the incident, Raidas’s wife informed the police. According to officers at CIB, the incident was of June and Raidas is now safe.
The bureau had been keeping an eye on David as soon as they were informed about it.
It was recently when they got a special information regarding David’s return to Nepal.
“David was arrested at the road to Kanti Children’s Hospital from a jeep (Baa 14 Cha 2112) while he was on his way to Panipokhari from Bansbari,” read the statement issued by CIB.
According to the bureau, they will be active to welcome David’s driver to Nepal once he arrives while they will follow diplomatic procedures for action against David’s wife.
“David’s wife is a Bhutanese national, so we will request the Malaysian government for necessary action after we complete necessary investigation,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Bel Bahadur Pandey, spokesperson at CIB.
As per Pandey, they are receiving multiple other complaints against David after they made his arrest public.
“David has been involved in multiple criminal activities in Malaysia of which many Nepalis have been victims. People are reaching us out and informing about their incidents,” said Pandey.
The bureau has also requested individuals to reach out if they were David’s victim.
“We will take the legal procedures against David further based on the kidnapping and other criminal incidents which shall be established in the mean time,” Pandey added.