Nepal: 2 Indian nationals among 8 arrested for possessing uranium-like substances

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Kathmandu: Two Indian nationals were among eight people arrested here on Tuesday for possessing uranium-like substances, which were brought from India to be sold illegally in Nepal, police said.

Based on a tip-off, a team of police officers arrested the eight people after they recovered these substances from a car parked in the parking lot of a five-star hotel in Boudha, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

The two Indian nationals were identified as Upendra Kumar Mishra and Raju Thakur, both natives of Bihar, while the six others were all Nepal nationals, police said.

The arrests were made as they were preparing to sell the valuable item for Rs 350 million per kg.
The police arrested Bhupendra and Nawaraj from the parked car, where the substance was hidden and six others were arrested on the basis of information furnished by them.

The eight people have been arrested on charges of illegally trading in Uranium, according to Nepal Police headquarters sources. Authorities have also seized nine mobile phones from them.

"We have recovered some substances, which look like uranium. It will be sent to the laboratory to ascertain whether they are uranium," Dinesh Mainali, Superintendent of Police from the Metropolitan Police Range said. The police have initiated further investigation into the matter after taking the eight people under detention.

In March, 2021, four Nepalese nationals were arrested here for possessing 2.5 kilogrammes of unprocessed uranium. One of the arrested claimed that her father-in-law brought it from India where he worked in a uranium mine some 20 years ago, police said.