The self-assurance expressed by Sobhraj in using Nepali immigration to commit crimes or for any other covert movement has been time and again tested to varying degree of success by other criminals too. [break]
In the latest example, an attempt by two Tibetan refugee teenagers to fly to America using illegally procured Nepali passports was foiled by police at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) last week. But, had it not been for the police, the two teenagers could have very well landed in US on forged travel papers.
It´s revealed by police investigations that Ghana Shyam Gautam, 40, a section officer at TIA, was directly involved in giving a safe passage to the Tibetan siblings -- Jayang Tenzin, 15, and his sister Tsering Lhamo, 12 -- in collusion with Chhering Tashi Gurung, a broker supposed to slip them on board the flight.
Gautam was handed over to Nepal Police by the Immigration Department on Wednesday. He is said to have confessed his guilt after he was placed face to face with Gurung at Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK).
Gautam´s role, officials said, became evident after a call-detail investigation revealed that he had talked on mobile phone with Gurung 16 times over a couple of hours while the Tibetan refugees were being proceeded through the TIA Terminal building.
The Tibetan refugees who possessed illegally-procured Nepali Passports and refugee status papers were nabbed as they were just about to board the flight. The case became even more curious when some special documents issued by the US embassy were confiscated from them.
Nepali Immigration has faced a new version of disgrace in less than three months after five immigration officials were identified for their collusive roles in the red passport scam that has already implicated three lawmakers.
Joint-secretary Khadananda Dhakal, the then TIA immigration chief, and Bhuminanda Bhandari, a section officer, along with three other staffers were found to have been involved in letting the persons in possession of tampered red passports through. Dhakal has still been at large after he was warranted by police. All others in the case have been suspended and the cases lodged against them by the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority are pending at the Special Court.
What amuses most is that Dhakal fell into trouble in a couple of months after he was posted at TIA as the newly-promoted Joint-secretary. "His posting was made as a prize for his seemingly clean and popular background," said Home Ministry officials.
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