Nepal

Kathmandu, April 30

Police arrested 11 persons with drugs from different places of Kathmandu valley yesterday.

Metropolitan Police Office raided a Chhauni-based restaurant and held six persons. Those arrested are Saroj Silwal, 36, Sujan Tamang, 19, Dipendra Shrestha, 42, Anil Bhujel, 32, Ranjeet Tiwari, 43, and Navin Manandhar, 39, of Kathmandu.

Police said 744 grams of amphetamines, a scooter, Rs 176,000 in cash, 45 pipes used for consuming the drug and a digital weighing machine were confiscated from them. Police had raided the restaurant acting on tip-off that it had been a drug haven for peddlers and users.

In a separate operation, police arrested Prabesh Malla,18, of Dhading, Santosh Tamang,18, of Makwanpur and Sujan Gurung,19, of Nuwakot with 600 tablets of nitrazepam from Lainchaur area. Police said they were found to have involved in drug peddling.

In yet another incident, police arrested Saroj Khadka, 24, of Ramechhap with psychoactive substances from Sanothimi, Bhaktapur Municipality-2. Forty tablets of nitrazepam were seized from his possession. Also Suresh Karki, 35, of Bhaktapur, was arrested with 10 ampules of diazepam, an injectable prescription drug from Duwakot. Police said all the arrestees were charged under the Narcotics Drug (Control and Punishment) Act.

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has asserted that the government certainly returns its lands usurped by anyone irrespective of position and power. Also the Chairman of Nepal Communist Party, Prime Minister Oli said the public land of Lalita Niwas of Baluwatar and other parts would be brought under the governmentownership.

During the parliamentary party meeting of the NCP which discussed upcoming policy, programmes and budget, PM Oli made it clear, &Currently, efforts were made to tarnish the government and party relating to government lands, but it is not a new issue at all. General Secretary of the party, Bishnu Poudel, was not in power during the transaction of the Baluwatar land, so he has not misused the authority.&

According to the PM, an investigation into the public land and purchase of wide-body aircraft was going on. So, the facts on it would come soon, he added.

PM Oli further urged the party leaders, lawmakers and cadres not to be disappointed as the government was working under the national resolution of ‘Prosperous Nepal- Happy Nepali.& He directed the lawmakers to play an effective role in the federal parliament. As he informed in the meeting, an allowance to the senior citizens would be increased.

He asserted again that none would be bound to live in poverty in some years.

Kathmandu, April 30

Kathmandu valley reported 1,398 complaints of bike thefts during eight months of the current fiscal 2018-19. However, only 376 bikes were recovered over the period, according to Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

&Of the recovered bikes, we handed over 263 two-wheelers to their owners upon verification of documents, while 99 unclaimed bikes were submitted to the Department of Customs for further legal process,& said Senior Superintendent of Police Basant Kumar Pant who is also MTPD in-charge. He informed that MTPD had arrested 69 persons involved in lifting motorcycles in eight months of the current fiscal.

Victim Support Unit at MTPD had received 1,634 complaints of bike theft in 2017-18. Of them, traffic police had managed to retrieve 461 two-wheelers and arrested 42 persons in connection with the property crime.

Bouddha, Jorpati, Pepsicola, Baneshwor, Koteshwor, Chabahil, Budhanilkantha, Maharajgunj, Thamel, Sundhara, Balaju, Kalanki, Pulchowk, Jawalakhel and Lagankhel are the places from where motorcycle were mostly lifted.

Hospital and cinema hall premises and busy markets are more vulnerable to bike thefts, according to police.

MTPD said that most of the bikes stolen from the valley were found to have been used outside Kathmandu valley in places like in Birtamod, Damak, Biratnagar, Dharan, Inaruwa, Saptari, Rautahat, Kaski, Rupandehi, Surkhel and Kailali. The stolen bikes were also used in some hill districts that have road networks but lack the presence of law enforcement officials.

Traffic police deploy sleuths led by an inspector in remote hill and the Terai areas to intercept stolen bikes.

Almost all two-wheelers lifted from the valley are sold to clients in other districts. Buyers usually posses fake blue book and use the two-wheelers to transport fodder and milk.

Racketeers are found selling a stolen bike for Rs 20,000 to Rs 100,000 depending on its condition and brand.

SSP Pant suggested bike owners to park their two-wheelers at safe places with handles locked and also to install intelligent locking system with double lock options, making it difficult for thieves to lift bikes.

He said traffic police had stepped up surveillance against bike theft to combat the property crime. &Owners should be on high alert to prevent potential theft. We encourage the owners to use wheel-lock, disc-lock, brake-lock, fuel-lock system and GPS tracker in their bikes to ensure safety of their properties,& SSP Pant suggested.

Kathmandu, April 29

Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba tore into the government for its alleged misrule, including its attempt to centralise powers in the Prime MinisterOffice and curtail press freedom.

While addressing the first meeting of the budget session today, Deuba criticised the KP Sharma Oli-led government ‘for not doing any single work that could strike a chord with the public.& The government drew flak not only from the main opposition party but also its coalition partner Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal.

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, which withdrew support to the government a few weeks ago, threatened to launch street protest against the government if the constitution was not amended and other demands of the party were not met.

Reading out a written statement from the rostrum of the Parliament, Deuba said the government did not do enough to rehabilitate tornado-hit people in Bara and Parsa districts and to maintain law and order.

&The government failed to spend capital allocated for development work and it handed over Budi Gandaki Hydro project to a company without calling a tender,& he said and added that the government was trying to protect land mafia involved in the Baluwatar land-grab case. He also criticised the government for taking decisions through the Constitutional Council even in the absence of the leader of opposition.

Member of RJP-N presidium Anil Kumar Jha said if the government continued to ignore his partydemands, then his party would launch street protest against the government.

&The government is neither positive about amending the constitution, nor is it willing to make the Girish Chandra Lal Commission&s report public,& he said. Jha said many party leaders, including lawmaker Resham Chaudhary were victims of false indictment.

Rajendra Shrestha, co-chair of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and deputy parliamentary party leader, said if the government didn&t amend the constitution as per the two-point agreement, the party would quit the coalition government.

Former prime minister and Coordinator of Naya Shakti Party Baburam Bhattarai asked the government to investigate the Baluwatar land-grab cases and wide-body aircraft purchase deal. Bhattarai said the government should withdraw the newly registered National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Bill that proposed to put the rights body under the purview of the Attorney General.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Rajendra Lingden, Rastriya Janamorcha Party lawmaker Durga Paudel and Nepal Workers and Presents Party leader Prem Suwal also criticised the government for not living up to peopleexpectation.

However, NCP deputy parliamentary party leader Subas Chandra Nembang defended the government, saying the government was doing all it could to control corruption. He said the government also wanted to investigate the land-grab cases.