The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has arrested fifteen people for their involvement in the poaching and smuggling of rhino horn.

A team of CIB personnel, assigned to prevent, control and investigate crimes related to the environment and wildlife, arrested two people from Saraswatinagar of Kathmandu-7 on December 26, 2022.

The arrested individuals–Indramani Acharya of Bhadrapur-10 in Jhapa and Jamuna Kumari Sharma, of Kohalpur-11 in Banke–were found to be in possession of a rhino-horn, weighing 522 grams.

Preliminary investigation revealed that a deal worth Rs2 million for the pachyderm’s horn was made, following which police arrested 13 other individuals in connection to the case.

According to CIB spokesperson Superintendent of Police Sanjay Singh Thapa, on January 26 the police arrested three individuals from different parts of the Kathmandu valley. The police team arrested Babulal Bhattari, 62, of Bhuwan Pokhari in Palpa from Sitapaila chowk; Gajadhar Sapkota, 61, of Makhuriya in Kailali was arrested from Gongabu; Pratap Chaudhary, 36, of Ghoda Ghodi in Kailali was arrested from Sitapaila.

Likewise, on February 3, Dumbar Kumar Ale Magar, 45, of Arun Khola Rural Municipality in Bhojpur, currently residing in Chabahil, Kathmandu was arrested from Lagankhel; Khan Bahadur Rana, 47, of Palungtar in Gorkha was arrested from Hattisar and Nirmal Shahi, 46, of Putalibazar in Syangja was arrested from Jamal, informed CIB spokesperson Superintendent of Police Sanjay Singh Thapa.

The CIB team also arrested Hairmaya Rana, 38, of Waling Municipality in Syangja on February 5 and Samjhana Chepang, 40, of Bharatpur Metropolitan City in Chitwan was arrested on February 7.

The final leg of arrests was made on Wednesday after police arrested five more persons in connection to the case.

A ‘route-to-route’ operation was carried out to make the arrests, police said.