KATHMANDU, Nov 7: The District Police Range (DPR), Lalitpur, has handed over the ‘honey trap’ case where two senior police officials have been implicated to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) following an investigation for about one and a half months.
The case consists of an incident in which an entrepreneur was blackmailed under the threat of a rape charge by a group comprising a police superintendent and an inspector, leading to an extortion of Rs 3 million.
Chief of the DPR, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shekhar Khanal, informed Republica that all four suspects and related documents had been handed over to CIB on Wednesday.
“We started off with investigating this case as organized crime,” he said, “However, after we learned that the case is not limited to Lalitpur but to other districts, we handed over this to CIB.” Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamal Thapa who has been working at the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) was implicated in the case this week. Since the head office of the CIAA is located outside Lalitpur district, the investigation into Thapa’s involvement into the case falls beyond the jurisdiction of the DPR.
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SSP Khanal added that the DPR found the case to be more difficult with each passing day of investigation. “The suspected involvement of some senior officials also made more sense that we forward the case to the CIB,” he said.
Police have made Sushma BK, Tajmul Islam, Bhima Devi Thapa, and Police Assistant Constable Mahendra Hamal defendants in the case and are investigating charges of organized crime and criminal profiteering. Police have the right to detain the accused for up to 60 days in organized crime cases.
It has been revealed that senior police officials, including SP Thapa and Inspector Binu Kumari Shahi, the chief of Bhaisepati Police Sector were involved in the incident. Shahi has already been relieved of her duty, and an arrest warrant has been issued against her. However, she has been on the run. Assistant Constable Hamal was Inspector Shahi's driver.
Spokesperson of the CIB Superintendent of Police (SP) Hobindra Bogati confirmed to Republica that the bureau has received the file and an investigation into the case will start on Friday. He claimed that the police are committed to bringing every criminal under the purview of law regardless of their connection to the police organization.
“There are 70,000 individuals in the police force, involvement of a few individuals in criminal activities cannot reflect on the entire organization,” he said, “If the said senior officials are involved, we will take strict action accordingly.”
On September 22, 19-year-old BK filed a complaint at the Bhaisepati Police, Lalitpur, accusing the entrepreneur of verbally abusing and threatening her, which marked a new turning point in the case.
A source within Police headquarters, who has also been investigating this case, said that Islam, one of the suspects, has testified during the ongoing investigation that a similar incident of extortion through a honey trap, amounting to Rs 1.6 million, was carried out earlier at Durbarmarg.
The initial investigation into the case verified suspended Inspector Shahi's involvement in the incident. A further investigation by the DPR’s inquiry committee revealed that Inspector Shahi had been introduced to the accused Islam by SP Thapa.
As per Lalitpur police, negotiations initially began at Rs 6 million during the blackmail, and a final agreement was reached at Rs 3 million. Following that, the businessman immediately deposited Rs 700,000 into an account under the name Bhima Devi Thapa, as instructed by Islam. He was asked to deposit another Rs 1.3 million into the same account the next day, bringing the total to Rs 2.3 million.
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