Eight frauds disguised as IRD officials arrested

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 11At least eight frauds in the disguise of government authorities of Inland Revenue Department
have been arrested from Bus Park area in Kathmandu.
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They used to swindle hoteliers and businesses in the area. The Kathmandu District Police
Range nabbed them red-handed in the attire of the official uniform of government employees - dark blue blazers, pants and white shirt -
along with fake identity cards
The fraudsters were charging money from hoteliers in the area saying that they had breached government rules.The arrested include Bin
Bahadur BK, 29, of Nawalparasi, currently residing in Balaju; Srijana Bhattarai, 22, of Panchthar, currently residing in Lalitpur; Sagar
Jung Luhar, 19, of Achham, currently residing in Koteswor; Pramisha Tamang, 23, of Sindhupalchowk, currently residing in Samakhusi; Dudhkala
BK, 23, of Achham, currently residing in Lalitpur; Aanjana Tamang, 21, of Nuwakot, currently residing in Manmaiju; Rajeev Bista, 24, of
Kanchanpur, currently residing in Koteshwor and Devid Dhami, 25, of the same place.These fraudsters used to carry original looking rubber
stamp, bill and letter head of the IRD
As they walked from hotel to hotel and business to business in the busy Bus Park area, they would give the im-pression of government
authorities.The dress and official identity card along with bills and other documents of the office gave the impression they were real
officers.They would confidently enter businesses, especially hotels in the area and start inquiring about the income and legal tax
payment.Kathmandu Police, in a press meet, said the frauds often targeted businesses that had not paid due tax to the government and ask
them to pay fine while handing out fake bills to the businesses.Some of them were able to get bribe money from the businesses on the pretext
of helping them evade the tax amount.Police said they were able to confiscate around Rs 500,000 the fraudsters had gained from hotels,
restaurants, shops and even roadside vendors in the area
It is not sure how much money they had collected from the businesses so far
Police said the fraudsters had long been involved in this activity
The activities had gone unnoticed until one person who was suspicious of the bill provided by the fraudsters called the police to report
about such activities
He was aware that the IRD would ask businesses to deposit the money in the concerned bank account and would not charge money on the spot
like the fraudsters.Police acted on the information and arrested them red-handed during investigation.A version of this article appears in
the print on December 12, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com