Nepali authorities concerned over rising illegal activities by Chinese nationals

The rising involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal activities has become a serious problem in Nepal.

In the latest incident on April 22, 22 Chinese nationals were arrested during a raid at a house in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, by a joint team from the Department of Immigration and Nepal Police, reports ANI.

Nepal’s local media outlet Annapurna Express reported that authorities had been tipped about suspicious activities in the house, and later, the suspects had been caught with 35 laptops, 675 mobile phones, and 760 SIM cards issued by Nepal Telecom and NCell.

However, all of the 22 suspects were released a day later on the condition of helping the authorities with the investigation as the police had no substantive ground to lay charges on them.

According to reports, the immigration department has confiscated their passports to prevent them from leaving the country.

The suspects, who were released under the custody of one Manjil Shrestha, are presently staying at a hotel in Thamel, ANI reported.

Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, director-general at the Department of Immigration, was quoted as saying by ANI that the investigation is being pursued with the assistance of the police.

“The suspects had entered Nepal on business visas. We also found that one of them had overstayed his visa,” Bhattarai said.

“We are still trying to find out the nature of their activities here in Nepal,” the official added.

After the confiscation of the laptops and mobile phones from the Chinese nationals, they have been sent to the Central Police Forensic Science Laboratory, reports ANI.

This is not the first time, in a similar case, the Nepali authorities arrested 122 Chinese nationals, also with similar equipment, in December, 2019 for their alleged involvement in criminal activities.

They were eventually extradited to China, and the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China had chartered two planes to take them back.

A senior official of China’s Criminal Investigation Department came to Kathmandu that time to negotiate the extradition with Nepali authorities, according to media reports.