"They are continuously putting pressure on me through my family. But I will not give in," said Adhikari at Hanumandhoka under custody in an exclusive interview to myrepublica.com on Friday. The 33-year-old ex-soldier said his wife Durga has been approached time and again by Ansari´s family and aides to persuade him to frame himself alone. [break]
"They said they would provide everything for our family and the children´s education in return for a fabricated statement," said Durga, who repeatedly regretted that her husband´s ´simplicity was misused´ by Ansari.
According to Durga, she was taken from her teashop at Jadibuti by taxi to Ansari´s house at Talchikhel in Lalitpur three days after Kashiram and Ansari were arrested on January 1. "His wife Salma said my husband would not be released until Ansari came out," she said. "Later, a senior official of National Television visited my teashop twice with the same story."
Police arrested Ansari after they apprehended Adhikari and two Pakistani nationals -- Sajjad Mohammed Khuram and Mohammed Iqbal, who allegedly possessed 3.7 kg of brown sugar as well, during a raid at the Red Planet Guest House in Thamel. After arresting Adhikari, Police had recovered fake Indian currency notes totaling over 2.54 million from a room at Bluebird Mall in Kathmandu.
Adhikari, a resident of Sudal in Bhaktapur, had been a bodyguard for Ansari for one and half years. He was one of six bodyguards of the son of former minister Salim Miya Ansari. Yunus Ansari has long been listed by Indian intelligence as prime perpetrator in transaction of fake Indian currency from Nepal. Nepal Police has also been linking him to the international crime ring of Daud Ibrahim.
Adhikari said he would not alter his statement irrespective of any pressure. He hoped that another bodyguard, Nabin Ramjali, and Kumar Phuyal, the driver, would also give their statements honestly as they were all involved in the activities for Yunus.
Father of two children, Adhikari also has to care for an elderly mother with heart disease. Durga, who learnt about her husband´s troubles only three days later, reprimanded him for not being careful over his boss. They sobbed in each others´ arms during the interview.
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