By IANS
Kathmandu : In a move that left Nepal's government red-faced, Maoist cadres have "arrested" a businessman wanted for one of the biggest frauds in the country who had been assiduously protected by top ministers and security officials.
The Young Communist League (YCL), the young wing of the Maoists that has been at the centre of controversies since they signed a peace pact with the government, Monday made a move that is likely to gain them some public support they lost due to tales of their highhandedness.
On Sunday, the YCL frogmarched businessman Sitaram Prasain from his office in one of the upmarket areas of the capital and kept him in "custody" for 24 hours.
Prasain, who had been chief of Nepal's Cottage and Small Industries Development Bank, had allegedly defrauded his own organisation of nearly Nepali Rs.280 million by approving loans made on false documents.
When the crime came to light last year, Nepal's apex bank – Nepal Rastra Bank – ordered the government to arrest him.
However, Nepal's multi-party government, that came to power pledging to fight corruption, ignored the order and instead, befriended the wanted man.
Police said they were unable to find Prasain when all the while he was moving around freely in the capital.
Last month, a tabloid published a photograph of Prasain, one of the biggest white-collar criminals in Nepal, throwing a lavish party at a five-star hotel to celebrate his son's wedding.
Nepal's Armed Police Force provided security at the banquet attended by Nepal's top political leaders.
The guests included prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala's deputy and peace and reconstruction minister Ram Chandra Poudel, commerce and supplies minister Rajendra Mahato and chief of the Communist party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist Madhav Kumar Nepal, who is currently in India to attend a conference of parliamentarians from South Asia.
"We knew Prasain was very much in the city while police said they could not find him," said the valley chief of the YCL, known as Sagar.
"We caught him in the same bank that he had defrauded on Sunday.
"We are going to present him before people at Kathmandu's Khulla Manch (where most public rallies are held) and then hand him over to police."
Last month, the YCL played an important role in apprehending a smuggling network spanning India and China that was sending sandalwood logs covertly to China via Nepal.
The Prasain incident will partially redeem the image of the cadres who recently created a diplomatic storm by stoning the UN vehicle carrying the American ambassador to Nepal, James Francis Moriarty.
The attack was condemned by 15 foreign embassies based in Kathmandu, including Britain, Japan and India, who reminded the Nepal government of its responsibility to ensure the safety and free movement of diplomats.
The diplomatic lapse compelled the home and foreign ministries to issue a statement that the government was committed to providing full security to foreign envoys.