Indian traders in Nepal get threats from criminals

KATHMANDU: Indian-origin businessmen, living in the border town of Birgunj, are receiving threatening calls from Nepalese criminals under the cover of Indian gangsters.

The criminal groups of Birgunj have started blackmailing Indian-origin businessmen by threatening them from privately run Mero Mobile phones, police said. Those criminals who use the names of Indian gangsters such as Munna Sharma to make threatening calls are active mainly in Birgunj in Paras district and neighbouring Bara district, they said.

The business entrepreneurs who were facing threats from the Indian criminals, involved in abduction, extortion and even murder, are now being threatened by Nepalese criminals. The local businessmen even blocked the Birgunj Pathaliya road for two hours demanding action against the culprits.

The local administration had assured them that action would be taken against the criminals and the distributors of the Mero Mobile Service for their involvement in the crime. On Tuesday, a man named Sonelal Patel, who has been extorting money from the owner of Saukhi Petrol Pump on behalf of Indian criminal Munna Sharma, was caught by locals and was later handed over to the police.