Couple held a couple for cheating people

KATHMANDU, March 29: Police have arrested a couple on charge of duping people promising them of providing gold at a cheaper rate.

Based on a complaint lodged by the victims, a special squad of the Metropolitan Police Crime Division apprehended Ram Bahadur Bhujel, 58, and his wife Dhanmaya Bastola Bhujel, 35, of Lamatar, Lalitpur, from Lagankhel yesterday.

The couple’s modus operandi was to befriend the unsuspecting people and convince them to invest money in ‘hallmark gold’.

Bhujel couple would also give the victims a pellet of genuine gold to win their confidence. Earlier this month, the couple had convinced Binita Pariyar and Mukti Prasad Osti of Lamjung to invest in gold.

They had met Pariyar and Osti while travelling to Kathmandu from Pokhara on the same bus. The unsuspecting duo had agreed to purchase ‘gold’ after getting the sample gold was found to be genuine when tested.

“The couple convinced the victims and made off with Rs 1.5 million in exchange of a pellet of iron wrapped in a handkerchief,” an official at the MPCD said.

Law enforcement officials are on the look out for other suspects who work in cahoots with the fraud couple, the official added. During interrogation, police also established their involvement in defrauding Tika Dhoj Khatri, 73, of Sindhupalchowk, of two gold rings. The couple has been sent to the Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka, to initiate legal action.