The accused, allegedly, threatened people by claiming to be the members of Interpol, the short form for International Police.[break]
The police officials were puzzled by the reports of handcuffs abuse for sometime now, though Crime Division was able to arrest the three from New Baneshwar following a special tip-off.
The three accused have been identified as Sajan Timilsina, 27, of Jorpati VDC-4, Bhaiking Subba, 34, of Baneshwar-10 and Sanjog Subba Limbu, 26, of Mahankal-6 of Kathmandu.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police of Crime Division Surendra Prasad Mainali, the three were arrested from a house at Baneshwar while they were plotting anther robbery.
The three, posing as officers from Interpol, had detained one Milan Gurung, 28, of Itahari-4 of Sunsari District, form his rented room in Chhetrapati, Kathmandu, on June 9, 2012, allegedly for possessing two sacks of black money.
Quoting Gurung, the police said that they had forcefully taken him to Tribhuvan International Airport with chain handcuffs on his hand and demanded Rs 150,000. They threatened to kill him if he failed to pay the amount, but later they let him go after looting Rs 10,000 from his possession.
Timalsina and Subba had met in Cyprus a few years ago while studying a course related to management. But after coming back, they resorted to threats and looting by pretending to be police officers, preliminary investigations have revealed.
The group had earlier looted a man named Jagannath, who hailed from Birgunj, from near the TIA last October and fled. According to the police officials, the three had used handcuffs in that instance as well.
“We have several complaints regarding handcuffs abuse. This arrest will certainly help us find the place where these illegal handcuffs are made, DSP Mainali said.
He said that the seized handcuffs are similar to the ones used by the Nepal Police and can be unlocked by the keys used by them.
Nepal Police buys handcuffs mainly from China but we are yet to investigate where the seized handcuffs originated, said the police. The police said the three would be produced at the court under the charge of being involved in forceful looting.
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