JHAPA, June 7: A photojournalist, Durlabh Roy Chaudhary, of Kolkata of West Bengal, India, is in Jhapa jail for the past seven months on the charge of carrying fake currency.
Twenty-four year old Chaudhary was arrested from the Chandragadhi Airport on November 18, 2021 in the course of visiting Nepal from Kolkata via the Kakarvitta checkpoint.
Spokesperson for the District Police Office, Jhapa, Basanta Pathak said that police seized 226 pieces of xerox copies of USD 100 from Chaudhary in course of searching his body while he was flying to Kathmandu from Chandragadhi airport.
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He said that Jhapa District Court has already issued an order to keep Chaudhary in custody for investigation on the charge of carrying fake currency.
Chaudhary has mentioned in his statement that he visited Nepal to travel hilly touristic areas of Nepal in order to shoot a short movie 'Money is Nothing' for his YouTube channel. The case is under consideration at the Jhapa District court and his status has been recently made public.
Initiatives are being taken for his release, claiming that he is innocent. Claiming Chaudhary is not a fake notes smuggler, chairperson of National Forum of Photojournalists, Pradeep Raj Onta requested the authorities to release Chaudhary by finalizing the case as soon as possible “because he was carrying fake currency only for video shooting”.
Chair Onta shared that Chaudhary works as a freelance photographer for different media including National Geography, World Street Photobook, and Times of India as well as runs his own YouTube channel 'Sniper Monk Travels'.
(RSS)
