122 Chinese arrested in Nepal for suspected cybercrime, bank fraud
DHARAMSALA, 26 Dec: More than a hundred Chinese nationals were detained by the police in Nepal in the biggest crackdown on crime by foreigners on a tourist visa in the country.
A total of 122 Chinese nationals were arrested in a coordinated police raid on nine houses in Kathmandu, on Monday, Uttam Subedi, the chief of police of the capital has disclosed on Tuesday.
Among those arrested, eight of them were said to be women and the police have reportedly conducted the raid after receiving inputs that they were engaged in suspicious activities.
“This is the first time that so many foreigners have been detained for suspected criminal activities,” Uttam Subedi was quoted as saying in media reports.
While the Chinese are suspected of carrying out cybercrimes and hacking into bank cash machines, police have confiscated more than 700 mobile phones, 331 laptops and nearly a hundred desktop computers along with pen drives and SIM cards during the raid.
The authorities in Nepal were said to have coordinated with Beijing’s National Central Bureau in the operation.
“We suspect they were involved in cybercrime. We are investigating the evidence… action will then be taken accordingly,” AFP quoted Niraj Bahadur Shahi, chief of Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau as saying in its report.
Lately, there were numerous reports of Chinese people being detained in Asian countries on suspicion of involvement in various illegal activities and scams.
On 19 Dec, 342 Chinese nationals — 44 females and 298 males — were arrested in the Philippines after a raid on unlicensed gaming businesses.
Additionally, 700 Chinese nationals were arrested in Malaysia when authorities busted a major online investment scam operation earlier last month while Mongolia arrested 800 Chinese citizens in cybercrime prime in Oct earlier this year.
