Narayan Kumar Shrestha, 20, of Maghapauwa-2 in Dolakha and Lava Rai, 27, of Suryamati-4 in Nuwakot were taken to India on Nevember 11, 2008 and then to Turkey with a promise of reaching them to England. [break] However, once they were said to have reached Turkey, the racketeers started extorting from their families, which have so far paid out more than Rs 1.3 million each.
Local point man of the racket, Bal Krishna Shrestha, was arrested recently. Based on its primary investigation, the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu (MPRK) is going to register a human trafficking case Sunday against him and four others involved, sources said.
According to Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, Narayan´s father, there have been frequent calls from Turkey over a couple of weeks urging him to transfer 3,000 euro to save his son. "First, somebody talks in Hindi and then gives the phone to my son who requests we send the money. He says he is being held at gunpoint and told to ask for the money," Shrestha senior told Republica.
"Yesterday, I overheard on the phone that they were being thrashed and also screaming at the same time," he added.
Buddhi Narayan had managed to put together the money overnight following such a call on Thursday, fearful for his son´s life. But he does not know how to send the money to the traffickers and ensure his son´s safe return home.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Turkey´s consular office in Kathmandu have been approached for help, according to Ganesh Shrestha, central member of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT), which has been facilitating matters for the victims´ families.
Meanwhile, three youths escaped from the clutches of the racket and returned home last month, including Gyanendra Kumar Shrestha, 27, a cousin of Narayan and also from Maghapauwa-2.
Gyanendra was taken to India on February 11, 2009 with two others, Ram Kumar Rai and Ananda Shrestha. After loitering in New Delhi for a month, he was flown to Georgia via Ukraine but the immigration authorities there deported him within hours. After landing back in New Delhi, he hung around till November and returned home after learning about the plight of his cousin in Turkey.
According to Gyanendra, Narayan called him from India frequently to say he was already in England and making good money. "Narayan advised me to contact Bal Krishna and prepare to go to Norway where they would manage similar good jobs for us. We found out only later that he was being forced to mislead us," he added.
"As instructed by Narayan, I also met Balkrishna and gave him Rs 500,000. We were eight altogether and were taken to India," said Gyanendra. He also said that two other Nepali youths whom he got to know in New Delhi are now stranded in Greece.
Accused Bal Krishna Shrestha, 32, who is said to be the Kathmandu-based agent of the human-trafficking ring, is from Nayapati-2, Kathmandu. Police are now after four active members of his gang, including two women. Primary police investigations show that he apparently used hundi (unauthorized money transfer channels) operating in Kathmandu for carrying out the extortion.
According to family members, Bal Krishna first befriended Narayan and Lava when they visited his village where they had friends and relatives. "After winning their confidence, he hatched his game plan," said Surendra Bahadur Rai, a cousin of Lava.
"The Modus Operandi of the racket was to victimize them through personal relations," said a police officer, adding that many others could have been victimized also. "I think many more could come here with their complaints as we have started the prosecution," he said.
The case came to light in dramatic fashion. The families of the victims were with Bal Krishna for 10 days in the first week of December at a hotel in Trishuli, Nuwakot . "He requested us to be with him somewhere away from Kathmandu so that he would contact his friends calmy and set the hostages free. So we went to Trishuli where we did nothing for over 10 days but were made to pay a huge hotel bill. After returning to Kathmandu, he called us for money and made us turn up at Hanumandhoka police office where a kidnap case was lodged against us by his brother, an army man," said Surendra.
The police, unaware of the inside story, immediately started prosecuting four members of the victim´s family for kidnap. They are still on remand.
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