Kathmandu, Aug 24: Nepal has ordered the expulsion of an employee of the Pakistani Embassy here on charges of using counterfeit Indian currency, official sources said today. Mohammed Masood, an upper division clerk at the embassy, was arrested last week at a restaurant in Nayabaneshwor area here after he allegedly tried to pay a restaurant bill with the fake money. He was also found carrying Rs 45,000.

Masood is expected to leave Kathmandu by air to Karachi via Bangkok on or before noon Tuesday. "This was agreed between Nepal government and Pakistan embassy officials," the sources said.

"The matter has been resolved through mutual consultation in accordance with the provision of the relevant international convention," foreign ministry spokesman Madan Kumar Bhattarai said.

Expressing the hope that such an incident would not take place in the future, he said the incident would have no impact on bilateral relations between Nepal and Pakistan. Masood was arrested by a special police team on August 18 and was subsequently handed over to the embassy after the intervention of Pakistani ambassador Zamin Akram.

Akram was summoned to the foreign ministry yesterday and told that Masood had 72 hours to leave the kingdom.

Bureau Report