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| Kathmandu, Friday June 27, 2003 Ashadh 13, 2060. |
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Loot in valley for the third
consecutive day
By Jitendra Sah
KATHMANDU, June 26 ; An armed group of looters
shot a man in his house at midnight on Wednesday and looted valuables, at Siddhipur VDC-5,
Lalitpur. This is the third consecutive day that organised loot occurred in the capital.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police
Suresh Bikram Shah of Lalitpur Police Office, a group of 15 masked men, with arms, shot
Keshar Bahadur Rai, 35, and looted Rs. 10,000 in cash, a mobile set, and 4 tolas of gold.
The looters were carrying knives, pistols and metal rods.
When Rai resisted, he was shot in the arm. The
looters fired three rounds of gunshot. Rai’s father, mother, wife and daughter-in-law
were also present in the house while the incident occurred. While Rai is being treated at
Patan Hospital, six people suspected of being involved in the loot have been arrested as a
result of a search operation started by the police.
The last few days have seen a marked rise in
armed loot in the valley. On Monday, two unidentified individuals with arms, looted over
Rs. 150,000 from Thamel’s Best Money Exchange House, after injuring the owners with
bullets and khukuri. Similarly, on Wednesday, masked men looted Rs. 80,000 from Bhagawati
Sapkota who was returning home in Bouddha after drawing the cash from Nepal Bank Ltd.,
Chabahil branch.
According to Valley Crime Investigation Branch,
Hanumandhoka, three incidents of loot are recorded every day in the capital. Meanwhile,
worried by daily loots, locals have initiated efforts to safeguard themselves. Residents
of Kirtipur of Kathmandu, Changu Narayan of Bhaktapur, and Sainbu residence area of
Lalitpur have hired security guards.
In the last six months, over two hundred and
fifty cases of loot were recorded in the capital and over hundred people were arrested in
similar incidents.
Meanwhile, sources at the Home Ministry
disclosed that necessary homework is underway to provide 500 secret police officers for
containing security situation in the valley. These officers will be deployed in civilian
dresses.
"The government is concerned about
increasing crimes in the valley," said Home Ministry spokesperson Gopendra Bahadur
Pandey. "The secret force will be deployed soon." Currently, over 1,500 police
officers are deployed in capital. Even while working up to 17 hours a day, they still
amount to one officer per 800 citizens.
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