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| Kathmandu, Monday August 11, 2003 Shrawan 26, 2060. |
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Counterfeit currency notes
seized from scribe: Police
By BIKASH SANGRAULA & JITENDRA SAH
KATHMANDU, Aug : The case of journalist Lokendra
KC, who was arrested yesterday by security at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) for
attempting to carry Indian rupees 1.4 million to Simara, took a new turn today after
police concluded that the bank notes are counterfeit. This has brought out probabilities
of KC’s involvement in a major money-counterfeiting racket.
Superintendent of Police Bimala Thapa, Chief of
Airport Security told The Kathmandu Post that ultraviolet tests have proved that the notes
are counterfeit. "The Central Bank will provide the official conclusion after
formalities," she said.
Thapa also said that the mobile number
981047602, stated by KC to belong to Ajay Alam, to whom the suitcase was to be delivered,
is actually the number of KC’s mobile. In yet another development, Yeti Airlines’
office at Simara airport is reported to have been contacted yesterday by an unidentified
person from mobile number 25326 inquiring about the suitcase. Police are still trying to
track down the mobile’s owner.
Meanwhile Anil Shrestha, owner of Ganga Hotel in
Baghbazaar, previously known as Ratna Hotel, said that no person bearing the name Raj
Mohammed Alam had checked in or checked out of the Hotel during a week’s period. K.C
had claimed yesterday that Alam, residing in the hotel, had offered him Rs. 500 for
delivering the suitcase containing the cash to his younger brother Ajay Alam in Simara.
According to reports from Birgunj, Alam brothers used to stay at Adhapur Village, about 8
kilometers south from Nepal-India border.
Shrestha also said that no one from the police
had contacted him or raided the hotel since the arrest of Lokendra KC. "I was
expecting the police to inquire at the hotel. Surprisingly that hasn’t
occurred," said Shrestha
A senior official at the Police Headquarters
said under conditions of anonymity that airport security displayed carelessness by not
taking immediate action. "They should have informed the supervisory team. That would
have expedited investigations," he said. He added that the hotel has been known in
the past for being involved in various cases of Indian currency forgery. The hotel has
been raided four times in the past, he said.
Keshav Baral, Valley Deputy Inspector General of
Police, said that information of the arrest was provided immediately to customs, Ministry
of Finance and relevant authorities. "However, there was a general lack of
seriousness," he said.
KC, chief of business news of Annapurna Post, a
Nepali daily published by Asia Pacific Communicaions Associate, is in custody at the
Police at Hanumandhoka Police Station.
The APCA had handed suspension letter to KC at
TIA police station. They requested SP Bimala Thapa not to allow other journalists to meet
KC in custody.
Bhoj Bahadur KC, publisher of the now-defunct
Lok Patra Dainik said that Alam, whose name is linked with the case was never the managing
director of the publication. He told The Kathmandu Post that the name of Alam was linked
to Lok Patra maybe fabricated with an ill intention to cast shadow over the issue of
foreign investment in Nepal’s print media.
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