Nepal

Kathmandu, October 19

The number of foreigners doing time in Nepali prisons for various criminal activities is increasing oflate.

According to the statistics released by the Department of Prison Management, 1,195 foreign nationals are serving jail sentence or awaiting final court verdict in 32 prisons across the country.

The number of foreigners in Nepali jails shot up to 1,195 from 898 in 2018.

Any foreign national, who commits crime on Nepali soil, is liable to fine and jail sentence as per the existing laws of the country. Foreign jailbirds are serving jail terms for drug smuggling, human trafficking, banking offence, smuggling of fake currency notes, fraud, wildlife crime, paedophilia, gold smuggling, cybercrime, rape, murder, forgery of passports and citizenship certificates. Foreigners doing time are mostly Indians, Chinese, Bhutanese, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nigerians, Tanzanians, Africans, French, Canadians, Romanians and Bulgarians, among others. Foreign jailbirds were eitherconvicted or remanded to judicial custody.

Of the total foreign jailbirds, 203 are in the Central Jail, 23 in Dilli Bazaar Prison of Kathmandu and 103 in Nakkhu Jail of Lalitpur. Parsa is housing 211 foreign jailbirds, the largest number of foreigners. Similarly, Ilam has 10, Jhapa 93, Morang 53, Sunsari 85, Saptari 13, Siraha 12, Ramechhap 18, Sindhuli 1, Mahottari 15, Rasuwa 8, Kavre 1, Dhading 6, Makwanpur 53, Chitwan 18, Rautahat 22, Kaski 29, Rupandehi 19, Kapilvastu 17, Nawalparasi 24, Palpa 15, Dang 15, Banke 63, Bardiya 14, Dailekh 3, Kailali 33, Dadeldhura 1 and Kanchanpur 14. The country has 74 prisons in 72 of 77 districts.

The DoPM said the increasing number of foreigners in jails indicated the impact of transnational crime on Nepal. Many drug smugglers were found making Nepal their transit point to push contraband into various countries.

Similarly, around 600 foreigners were deported after they served jail sentence for various crimes, including drug trafficking, smuggling of fake and illegal currency, fraud and banking offence, among others, during fiscal 2007-08 to 2018-19.

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Kathmandu, October 19

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli visited Grande International Hospital for health check-up yesterday.

According to sources, Prime Minister Oli visited the Dhapasi-based hospital for various tests and returned in the afternoon. He also visited the catheterisation laboratory or cath lab in the hospital, said a source.

A cath lab is an examination room in a hospital with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualise arteries and chambers of heart.

&He had visited the hospital for a follow-up,& said Kundan Aryal, the prime ministerpress adviser.

Earlier, on September 11, Prime Minister Oli had visited Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and got the catheter removed from his neck as per the advice of doctors.

Catheter (a kind of tube) was inserted in PMvein in the neck when he underwent plasmapheresis at Singapore-based National University Hospital.

The PM was admitted to Singapore-based National University Hospital twice in August. He had returned from Singapore on August 12 after getting his health check-up done in the hospital but had to go back for further treatment on August 22.

PM Oli had undergone plasmapheresis, after his creatinine level rose. Plasmapheresis is a process in which unhealthy plasma (with antibodies) is taken out and fresh plasma is transfused into the patient during treatment.

Prime Minister Oli had undergone a kidney transplant surgery 12 years ago. He has been visiting various hospitals in foreign capitals for health check-ups.

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Kathmandu, October 19

Former speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who was taken into police custody for investigation of attempt-to-rape charge levelled against him, underwent a coronary angiogram at Norvic International Hospital yesterday.

&He is currentlyin critical care unit,& said Rajendra Bahadur Singh, executive director of Norvic Hospital.

&Maharablood pressure has increased. Therefore, he had to undergo coronary angiogram,& Singh added.

&Depending upon the health condition, a patient is kept in the critical care unit from 12 to 24 hours after the test,& said a hospital source.

A coronary angiogram is a dye test used to detect heart problems. Catheter — long, thin flexible tube is inserted into the wrist or groin and guided up to the heart.

A dye is injected and X-ray pictures are taken. The dye allows the X-rays to capture pictures of arteries to check blockages or narrow spots.

Coronary angiograms are part of a general group of procedures known as heart (cardiac) catheterisations. Cardiac catheterisation procedures can both diagnose and treat heart and blood vessel conditions. A coronary angiogram, which can help diagnose heart conditions, is the most common type of cardiac catheterisation procedure

&A coronary angiogram is a procedure that uses X-ray imaging to see the heartblood vessels. The test is generally done to see if therea restriction in blood flow going to the heart,& said Uttam Krishna Shrestha, executive director at Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre.

On September 30, Roshani Shahi, a nurse at the Parliament Secretariat had accused Mahara of raping her the night before, at her rented apartment at Tinkune. Mahara had then resigned from the post of speaker on October 1 following the allegation.

Shahi, later made a volte-face, disowning her earlier version that Mahara raped her in her rented apartment.

However, she filed a first information report on October 4 accusing Mahara of attempting to rape her. In the FIR she had also charged Mahara of acts of violence against her.

Mahara was arrested from his official residence, Baluwatar, on October 6. Kathmandu District Court, on October 15, had ordered additional three days of remand for Mahara, over attempt-to-rape allegation.

According to the courtdecision, Mahara had been remanded to judicial custody for 13 days from the day of his arrest on October 6. As he had already remained in custody for 10 days, he was detained for three more days till October 18 for investigation.

Mahara, who was kept in custody at Metropolitan Police Circle, Singha Durbar, was admitted to Thapathali-based Norvic Hospital after he complained of chest pain.

Mahara has been under medication for respiratory ailments since long.

&Mahara will be presented at Kathmandu District Court tomorrow depending upon his health condition,& said Uttam Raj Subedi, senior superintendent of police, head of Metropolitan Police Range, Teku.

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Kathmandu, October 19

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba today said the main opposition party would cooperate with the government for fair investigation into the murder charge levelled against member of the House of Representatives Mohammad Aftab Alam without any bias and pressure.

Alam, who is also a central member of the NC, was recently arrested for allegedly masterminding the murder of more than 20 persons by tossing them into a brick kiln alive after they were injured while making bombs in 2008. He was elected HoR member from Rautahat Constituency-2.

A press statement issued by Deuba said, &Procedural delay in any serious case will cause adverse impact on fact-finding investigation to prove a person guilty or innocent. I hinted at the same in the 12-year-old case of Alam,& the statement read.

Earlier, Deuba was criticised for his remarks at a programme organised in Bode of Bhaktapur yesterday where he had said Alamarrest was a conspiracy against the NC. Deuba said he issued the statement to clarify yesterdayremarks and clear the confusion regarding his partystance on Alamcase.

&The NC believes in rule of law and will never go against fair investigation or inquiry into any case. I firmly believe no innocent person should be punished and no guilty should get impunity,& he said in the statement.

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