New Delhi: In what is being described as the biggest arrest and deportation of foreign nationals from Nepal, authorities in Kathmandu, last week, deported 122 Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in suspicious activities.
A total of 122 Chinese nationals were arrested by the Nepalese security agencies, on December 23 from various parts of Kathmandu. Acting on an intel-input, a team comprising the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), Metropolitan Police Range and Metropolitan Crime Division conducted raids on different houses in the Manamaiju, Bansbari and Budanilakantha areas, which lead to the arrests.
Following the arrests, the CIB recovered as many as 67 passports, along with 747 mobile phones, 331 laptops, 18 CPUs, 19 monitors, 22 pen drives and 327 SIM cards.
However, after failing to establish charges, the Department of Immigration (DoI) deported these 122 individuals to China. As per reports, they were flown to Beijing in two China Southern Airlines aircraft sent by the Chinese government, on 8 January.
Authorities claimed that the Chinese nationals were suspected to be involved in online gambling, financial fraud, cybercrime and violating visa norms.
Reasons for Deportation
During the investigation, Nepalese authorities found that only 31 Chinese nationals out of 122, possessed passports. With the rest refusing to disclose their identity, the authorities were forced to contact the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu to facilitate the investigation.
Speaking to thenews21, a senior officer from the Metropolitan Crime Division of Kathmandu said, “We were unable to find any records of the other 91 individuals. Most of them did not have any passport or document to prove their identity or citizenship.”
While, underlining possible fears that some of the arrested could be Chinese spies posted in Kathmandu for various tasks, the DoI, while deporting them also leveled a ban from entering Nepal for four years.
Sources of thenews21 in Kathmandu claimed that a team from CIB conducted digital investigations on the seized cell phones of the Chinese nationals. Authorities wanted to check, whether the Chinese nationals had any sensitive or classified information on their mobiles. Thus, the authorities reportedly conducted Collect and Analyze Communications and Cell Phone Data (CELLEX) procedure on the seized cell phones, before handing them over to the officials from the Chinese Embassy.
1,000 Chinese Nationals in Radar
According to the reports, authorities at the Ministry of Home Affairs are currently tracking around 1,000 Chinese nationals. Most of them are from China’s Fujian province, who are facing imminent arrest for a lot of questionable activities in Nepal.
Nepal and China have not signed any extradition treaty, but during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Kathmandu in October 2019, the two countries signed a Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters.
As per media reports, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has taken the issue up with the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi.
