“Our team arrested Raju Thapa, who was involved in the abduction of Megha Devkota, from Nayabazar, Khusibu, on Sunday evening,” said SSP Devendra Subedi, chief of the MPCD, Hanuman Dhoka. [break]
Thapa is fifth of the seven culprits police arrested so far in connection with the kidnapping. Thapa, 31, originally hails from VDC-2, Rudrapur, Rupandehi and was running a business of Aqua Prime mineral water before the incident. The Nepal Police had issued a red corner notice against him through Interpol.
Thapa´s crime history shows his involvement in more than nine criminal cases, according to Subedi.
Megha was abuducted from her home at Hepali Heights in Budhanilkantha, some seven kilometers south of the down town capital city, on July 26, 2008. The abductors released her on August 3 after Dr Devkota paid a ransom of Rs 13 million. The investigation by the police had found that the gang robbed Devkota´s house of jewellery and cash worth approximately Rs 16 million.
Two culprits involved in the abduction, Siddhartha Lama and Raju Lama, had surrendered in front of the court while other two, Hem Bahadur Magar and Krishna Chara Rai, were nabbed by the police.
Earlier, a team of the crime division had confirmed that Gokul Giri aka Rajesh Chhetri, 37, of Subbagaun-9 in Kavre was the mastermind behind the abduction. Giri and Keshav Darlami Magar are still at large.
Issuing a verdict on the case, registered on September 8, 2008, Judge Madhav Prasad Pokharel of Kathmandu District Court convicted Krishna Chara Rai and Siddhartha Lama as the main culprits and slapped a 22-year jail term and Rs 2.5 million fine on them.
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