E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, MAY 21 - Tourist police, a security lifeline of visitors to the country, say a considerable number of foreign  tourists visiting Nepal file fake cases of robbery and theft in order to claim compensation from insurance companies back home.

Japanese tourist T. Mitsuda filed a case of theft with the tourist police a month ago. He complained that his bag with a laptop and a camera were stolen as he slumbered in a vehicle while coming from Bhaktapur, but in the course of investigation his plaint was found to be fake. Another case filed by Philip W. Norman, a tourist from the  United States (US) turned out to be fake.

These are only a few instances from among the pile of cases with the tourist police that have been proved fake in the course of investigation. According to a report prepared by the Tourist Police, in 2009, at least 700 cases of robbery and theft were registered, but one-third of them were “without any substance”.

The police say most of these “cases without evidence” are false. “They don’t complain to the nearest police unit if the case is false. They file cases with us so that they can get a report which becomes a proof for them to demand compensation for that item from insurance companies in their country,” said Bharat Lama, chief of the Tourist Police cell at Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Lama also said tourists either sell or gift their belongings before registering the cases.

“This helps them gain double profit. While on one hand, they make money by selling their belongings here and claim compensation for them on the other.”

Bemoaning the lack of manpower and absence of a suitable mechanism for the rising trend of false cases filed by tourists, Tourist Police Sub-Inspector Nand Raj Joshi said, “Due to manpower crunch, we can’t go through each and every case. Therefore, this trend is rising. We don’t even have a proper interrogation room to carry out our task.”

•     Considerable number of tourists file robbery/theft cases
•     Most of them are fake
•     Idea is to claim compensation from insurance companies back home
•     In 2009, one-third of 700 cases filed were fake
•     Manpower crunch, absence of mechanisms to blame for rising trend

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