The arrestees have been identified as Kushal Adhikari, 38, of Gorkha, also an Ex-NA soldier, Yorsang Ghale, 29, suspected Biplav cadre from Rasuwa, Bijay Tamang, 27, from Dhading, Yubaraj Bhandari, 30, from Gulmi, Dharma Raj Tamang, 25, Ram Bahadur Tamang, 29, Peter Tamang, 30, and Rajan Tamang, 30, from Nuwakot.

They were involved in multiple crimes, including robbery and smuggling, said police.

Acting on a complaint, the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, had mobilised a special team that rounded up the gang of eight from different places in the Capital.

“The group had robbed Yogesh BK, owner of a gold and silver shop of Nawalparasi, saying they were police,” said Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Range. “Some of the accused own dance bars where they were found to be hatching robbery plans.”

“Our preliminary investigation shows they are part of an organised group,” Bogati told the Post. “They used to make plans to rob businesspersons and wealthy people.”

Police also confiscated one-kilogram gold, two Chinese pistols, two magazines, four rounds of bullets, four motorbikes and seven mobile phones from the group.
Police suspect the seized gold was smuggled from China, and that the group was looking for a buyer.
With the festival season approaching, cases of theft are rising across the country.
The country has seen a sharp rise in the number of burglary cases in the past five fiscal years. 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 burglary 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 robbery and burglary reached 2,646.