Over half of the kidnapping cases that occurred in the capital city in the nine months starting mid-July were either sponsored by people for loan recovery or settling financial disputes, or staged by individuals who wanted money from their own parents to meet their personal expenses.
Altogether 27 cases of kidnapping were reported to police during this period.
While 14 of these cases were either for recovering lost money or duping one´s own family,13 others were staged by professional criminals for ransom.
"We have found most of the kidnappings were carried out by people who felt they were swindled by foreign employment agents," said Deputy Superintendent of Police Sher Bahadur Basnet, who heads an anti-kidnapping cell at the Crime Division.
Officials at MPCD, Hanumandhoka, said victims often kidnap a person to recover their money as seeking remedy through the courts is often full of hassles and time-consuming. Such victims have been found hiring professional gangsters, promising that the gangsters would be paid a certain percentage of the recovered money, the officials said. "The trend will go unabated unless legal procedures in the courts are simplified," argued a police officer at MPCD, Hanumandhoka.
DSP Basnet said these kinds of cases are not just related to manpower agencies, but also to financial dealings between two parties.
Police have recorded seven cases of kidnapping related to financial dealings in the nine months since mid-July.
A disturbing trend though, according to police, is that in many cases individuals themselves have been found to have orchestrated their kidnappings to meet their personal expenses. Teenage youths especially from rich families have been found orchestrating their own kidnappings in an attempt to extort money from their parents.
Police investigators said these youths give a certain amount of the money extorted to their ´kidnapper´ friends while keep remaining amount for themselves.
MPCD, Hanumandhoka, investigated a total of six such cases during the past nine months. The cases related to Yash Mahaseth of Koteshwar, Sagar Katuwal of Minbhawan, Sashi Bhushan Yadav of Saptari and Arjun Subedi of Bardia are some of the famous ´orchestrated´ kidnappings in Kathmandu Valley. Mahaseth is the son former general manager of Salt Trading Corporation, Parameshwar Mahaseth.
Kathmandu Valley witnessed a spate of kidnappings in the past three years starting in the months following Janaandolan II in April 2006.
Altogether 77 cases of kidnapping were reported at MPCD, Hanumandhoka in the past three years. The kidnapping of businessman Mahesh Murarka and the case of Megha Devkota, daughter of noted neurosurgeon Dr Upendra Devkota, were talk of the town in 2008.
In the past, a large number of kidnapping cases would go unreported or police were not able to deal with them on time. However, things have changed in the last two years as MPCD, Hanumandhoka, has successfully dealt with 74 out of the total 77 kidnapping cases reported to them over the period.
Police officials said people have started reporting them even when family members come home late by two hours. "We feel good anyway to note that people´s confidence in us has improved considerably," added DSP Basnet.
The highest ransom paid to a kidnapper so far in Kathmandu is Rs 15 million.
koshraj@myrepublica.com
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