KATHMANDU: The District Administration Office Kathmandu’s decision of releasing 122 Chinese nationals held suspect for ‘serious cyber-crime’ offenses levying a nominal fine of mere Rs 1,000 each followed by the government preparation for their deportation to China has further mystified the case in many ways.
Amidst various twists and turns arousing various speculations on the issue, Janak Raj Dahal, the Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, issued the order to release the alleged taking Rs 1,000 each as fine.
Taking an indirect credit of the raid, China, on one of its regular press briefings at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated that those arrested were involved in cross-border cybercrimes.
“Based on my information at present, these citizens are suspected of engaging in cross-border cyber fraud activities. The case is still under investigation. This is a major operation conducted in collaboration by the Chinese and Nepali police,” Geng Shuang had said on December 24, last year.
Mysteriously, when they were presented at the DAO Kathmandu, they were alleged of ‘indecent behavior’ not the cyber-crime making room for easy release and the deportation to China.
They were not made the subject of further investigation claiming they confessed the allegation of ‘indecent behavior’.
Despite regular surveillance on the cybercrime how the Chinese nationals managed to register more than 21 software companies at the investment of nearly Rs 4 billion is another fact to arouse suspicion. What’s more neither the police probed more seriously on the issue nor did it go through the material seized.
No investigation was initiated to probe the political and high ranking police officials’ nexus with the arrested Chinese.
Rare in its type, when the Chinese officials executed the probing, Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police aloof itself from the investigation of the case.
Peculiarly, no initiation is taken for the know-how of the foreign investment coming under the guise of Chinese investment.
To make the long story short, the following facts pave room for suspicion in this case:
To find a way for deportation to China when it had legal constraints in the absence of extradition treaty between Nepal and China;
To change the allegation making the case weak in Nepal and get verdict to release them from District Administration Office,
To take the measure of submitting them to the Department of Immigration and take to deport them,
Not to investigate about the ‘crime’ committed in Nepal,
China’s claim of joint action when there is no legal provision consenting such action.
To execute the operation during Wang Xiao Hong’s more than 2-week-long stay in Kathmandu. Wang Xiao Hong is the Director of the Ministry of Public Security of China
To get China’s ‘promise’ of further support for the security personal of Nepal after the decision to deport the alleged Chinese.
To arrange for their deport to China under the influence of Director Hong.
To get the notice about the escape of the mastermind of the crime Chen Sitiyan and Bu Rong Feng; they had fled to the Philippines one day before the operation.
In addition to the above-mentioned facts, it was told that the alleged persons had entered Nepal to escape the raids in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia, but no poof to support it was provided to the authority.
Some more questions are directed towards the intent of the concerned security officials in Kathmandu as it is said that despite having 70 houses in the list to be raided only 9 were raided.
The execution of the day raid scheduled for night and the fleeing of the main suspect also raise a concern about the intent of the change in action.
Interestingly, the Chinese officials were quoted to have said that they were banished from the state for committing a serious cybercrime that could lead to the collapse of the Chinese economy, but no proofs were produced to support it.
According to the sources, more than 100 Chinese detective cyber experts were involved in the investigation, but they did not offer any details to Nepali security officials.
Nepal has a distinct authority to probe and persecute the crimes relating to the money laundering, the Department of Money Laundering.
Despite the legal provision of assigning such cases to the Department, the Department was not invited for the investigation in the issue.
Unfortunately for us, though the transaction worth 100 million to 150 million had to mandatorily approved, the police got no trace of such big transactions going on illegally.
These along with some more facts alike the rapid decision of deporting the alleged to China hint at some serious lapses in the security arrangement and investigation to executed to curb such issues in the future.
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