The Metropolitan Crime Division, Teku, has arrested six persons for allegedly robbing Rs5 million from a 63-year-old Bacharam Gurung, a resident of Bhagwanpau, Kathmandu.

Following a complaint by Gurung, on January 23, a team of the division arrested the alleged robbers on different dates from different places in the Capital. Those arrested have been identified as Nakur Tamang, 38, Dawa Tsering Tamang, 38, Tenjing Bahadur Tamang, 36, and Sanjit Waiba, 28, and Kumar Bahadur Budathoki, 36.

“The robbers lured Gurung on the pretext of providing sparkling stone and took him to Tarakeshwor Municipality-2, Kathmandu,” said the Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Singh, of Metropolitan Crime Division. “Then, the six threatened Gurung by showing Khukuri and iron rod and robbed him by throwing chilly powder in his face.”

The police were only able to recover around Rs 1.8 million from the arrested persons.

According to preliminary investigations, the alleged robbers after committing the robbery divided the money among themselves and had used the funds to cover their personal expenses, including paying rent, paying off their credits and buying new motorcycles.

“Gurung had withdrawn Rs5 million by taking out a loan from a bank,” said Singh. “The robbers were able to convince him that he can earn millions by selling the stone.”

The alleged robbers are kept in Metropolitan Police Circle, Balaju, and further investigation into the case is underway, said Singh.

“We have taken permission from Kathmandu District Court on Sunday to take them in custody for eight days,” he said.

According to the Nepal Police data, there has been a rise in theft cases, including the cases of robbery. Altogether 1,309 complaints were filed in the fiscal year 2014/15. The number of cases rose to 1,578 in the following fiscal year 2015/16.

The complaint related to theft and robbery reached 1,627 in the fiscal year 2016/17 and 1,628 in the fiscal year 2017/18. In the fiscal year 2018/19, cases related to theft and robbery reached 2,646.