KATHMANDU, Dec 31: A squad from the Metropolitan Police Circle Office, Swyambhu on Tuesday released three girls from Machhapokhari of Kathmandu district 19 days after their alleged kidnapping. Police said a gang had held them captive to smuggle them to India.
Three girls aged 12, 14 and 15 years and hailing from different villages of Nuwakot district, were lured with various promises and brought to Kathmandu without the knowledge of their parents, according to police. Following complaints by the parents of the girls, the police had started search for the girls.
Tipped off by a special source, police raided the house owned by one Nabin Shrestha in Machhapokhari and found that two other women had held the three girls hostage, according to DSP Bimal Raj Kandel, the chief of Metropolitan Police Circle Office, Swyambhu.
The two arrested were Roji Lama of Chauthe-6 of Nuwakot and Parbati Jargha Magar of Ruru-4 of Gulmi district, who had been living in their rented in Machhapokhari for the past few years. "Our preliminary investigation shows that the girls were kept hidden in the room with the intent to smuggle them to India to work in circus," DSP Kandel said.
Police suspect that of the two arrested, one was in frequent touch with her husband based in India and planned to take the girls there. But the accused has been denying the allegation and told the police that the girls themselves were living with them despite their attempts to throw them out. Police also investigated that the girls were once taken to a dance school and were about to be admitted there to prepare them for circus work.
Police however found that the girls had not been threatened or tortured. The teen girls have given suspicious statements so more investigation is necessary, according to police.
In a separate investigation, police have found that some women have been found robbing men of cash and gold ornaments. According to DSP Sitaram Rijal, the chief of Metropolitan Police Circle Office, Lainchaur, the women targeted men wearing gold ornaments and carrying cash in Thamel area.
"After locating men in possession of hefty cash and golden ornaments, the girls would lure them into sharing hotel rooms and make off with the cash and ornaments in the middle of the night," DSP Rijal said. Lainchaur police has arrested about half a dozen such girls over the past few days.
Police have also said that they have lately been seizing medicines and vegetables and fruits transported illegally by passenger buses.
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