Nepal police arrest 15 Bangladeshis for running 'online scam centre'

Nepal police arrested 15 Bangladeshi nationals from the capital Kathmandu's Thamel area on charges of running an online scam and blackmailing centre, local online portal Ratopati reported Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office arrested the suspects from Hotel S in Paknajol, Ward No 16, Kathmandu. They were visiting Nepal on a tourist visa.

A separate Nepali media report stated that four Indian nationals were also arrested in the drive and that a Chinese national, who remains out of the reach of police, led the entire team of cyber criminals.

The arrestees are: Md Mazidul Islam Radoy, 25, Safiul Islam, 22, Apan Chanda Saha, 22, Abdulllah Al Zobair, 26, Abul Hasnai, 26, Al Sahariar, 24, Faisal, 30, Azad Husen, 25, Md Azmain, 19, Md Taimim Hasan Saurav, 20, Md Zakaria Jannat, 20, Sakil Anwar, 24, Bilal Rifat, 21, Omit Hasan Shaikat, 25, and Md Imam Hasan Swadheen, 30.

During investigation, it was revealed that the arrested Bangladeshi nationals were operating illegal businesses by renting rooms on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of Hotel S.

They used to create fake accounts of foreign models and young women on Facebook to target Bangladeshi and Indian nationals. Afterwards, they would befriend ordinary men under the guise of young women, engage in inappropriate and sexually explicit conversation with them, and later blackmail them for large sums of money under various pretexts, including making public the indecent conversation records.

Superintendent Rameshwar Karki, spokesperson for the Crime Investigation Office, stated that all the arrested Bangladeshi nationals have been handed over to the Department of Immigration in Kalikasthan for further investigation and action under the Immigration Act, reports Headline Nepal.

Police reportedly are considering deporting them to Bangladesh.