Police arrest Paswan for placing fake bomb in Jwelery Shop

Kathmandu: Police have arrested Khajanchi Paswan for placing a fake bomb in a Khotang Halesi Jewelers in Tara Hal Chowk.

Police arrested Paswan from the bomb disposal site on Wednesday. He has been taken to the Gaushala Police Circle. SP Sitaram Rijal said that the investigation was going on regarding the incident.

Paswan was arrested after police tracked the number from which the owner of the Jwelers, Maney Biswakarma had received a ransom call.

Paswan, a local from Rautahat,  had called Bishwokarma demanding 5 lakh rupees early in the morning.

Biswokarma said that he received a ransom call. He narrated the call from Paswan- ‘Give me 5 lakh rupees. Otherwise, I will plant a bomb in your jewelry shop. Support the party. If you want to save your properties, give me 5 lakh rupees. Your life would be in danger if you informed the police.’

This gave chills to Bishwokarma. After completing his daily rituals, Bishwoikarma received another call from the same number. Paswan said, ‘Is 5 lakh rupees ready? If not, I will install a bomb in your shop and blast it.’

Then, Bishwokarma received seven phone calls from the same number inquiring about the arrangement of the ransom and directing him to place the money in several locations.

After, sharing the incident with the family members, Bishwokarma decided to not give the ransom money. Then, he went to the shop to open the shutter. He found a chit and bomb-like substance in the shutter.

The chit stated-‘Owner of Halesi Jewelers, Help our party Nepal Utthan Krantikari Party. We hope that your support would be a great support for our country and the public. An RDX bomb has been placed here. Beware! Coordinator-Safal.’

Remembering the threat call, Bishwokarma shared the event with the neighboring shop owners. Then, informed the police. The bomb disposal team of the Nepal Army reached the site.

The disposal team took about one hour to confirm whether the substance was explosive or not. After a thorough examination, the substance was found to be non-explosive.

Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Spokesperson of Nepal Army, said, ‘The suspicious substance has been disposed of. Explosive material was not found.’ He said that wires were wrapped in a battery to create the illusion of a bomb.

Police busted Paswan, who was found observing the robot of the Nepal Army disposing of the bomb. Police found the number of Paswan active on the site.

Two people had also visited Bishwokarma’s Jewelry Shop and demanded ransom last year. But, they ran away after threatening to call the police.

Nepali version of the story

(Video of the incident)