Four Nepalese and Tibetan arrested in citizenship racket in Nepal

Nepal Police have arrested a group of people, including a Tibetan, allegedly involved in the illegal issuance of Nepali citizenship cards to more than 500 Tibetans.

Talking to the media on Monday, the Crime Investigation Division of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police said that police have rounded up five individuals including the prime accused, Krishna Bahadur Katuwal, 47, from the Babarmahal area of Kathmandu.

“Acting on a complaint that a group of racketeers is involved in issuing citizenships to Tibetans in collaboration with government officials, we have arrested five people including Katuwal from Babarmahal on Monday,'' he said.

Lobsang Thinle, a Tibetan national, who stayed in the Tibetan refugee camp in Kathmandu, was among the five people arrested.

The police have also seized citizenship cards, academic certificates, driving licenses, birth certificates, migration certificates, marriage registration certificates and divorce certificates from them.

Katuwal operated from a canteen at the District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu where he had a good connection with the DAO staff which made his job easier.

It is learnt that at least five citizenship certificates have been produced by making 70-year-old Nyulkesh the fake father of the Tibetan nationals.

According to the police, Katuwal used to charge up to Rs 150,000 for one citizenship card.