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Greed leads small time contractor to mastermind serial loots
LALITPUR, NOV 17 - When a close relative, considered mediocre in intelligence when compared to you grows rich fast, what do you do?
"You follow his trade and outdo him," said Dinesh Lama, 33, of Phakhel VDC-2, Makwanpur.
Lama, an amicable man, arrested today at 3:30 pm from Bouddha for alleged involvement in separate incidents of loot in the Valley, adding up to Rs 1 crore, followed his cousin Shree Lama’s footsteps after sulking for years at seeing him go rich quickly through burglary.
After 14 years of leading a life of acute poverty with his two wives and five sons in Kathmandu, Dinesh, a minor contractor, supplied information to burglars about the interior of the houses he built, and took commission from the loots that were perpetrated on the basis of his information.
"That far it was fine for me. Dissatisfied by the small amounts I received as an informant, I got physically involved in one loot, and that proved to be my undoing," disclosed the outspoken but downcast man at the District Police Office, Lalitpur. Lama has also admitted his involvement as informant in four other loots during the last one year in Kathmandu and Lalitpur.
In September 2002, he masterminded the burglary of gold worth Rs 100,000 and Rs 40,000 in cash from a house in Saibu-4 belonging to Gopal Shrestha. A month later he was physically involved in the loot of Rs 6,22,000 in cash and some gold from a hotel owned by Hasana Manandhar, situated in Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur.
Then followed loots at various times of cash and kind from the houses of Laxmi Prasad Kandel, Priya Shrestha and Devi Rijal, all in Bhaisepati. Dinesh and his team looted cash and kind adding up to Rs 1 crore in these five incidents. The details of other loots in the past where he might have been involved is not yet known.
Two of Dinesh’s accomplices Khadge Lama and Man Bahadur Lama were held after they faced local resistance while attempting to flee with Rs 4,600,000 from the house of Devi Rijal in Bhaisepati in July, 2003. Police came to know about the mastermind Dinesh from the two, said Inspector Bhakta Bahadur Bista of District Police Office, Lalitpur. However, the whereabouts of Dinesh was still missing.
A month ago, Shree Bahadur Moktan, 22, of Churemai-2, Makwanpur, leader of the gang, was arrested in Dhulikhel. Information that was provided by Moktan helped the police nab Dinesh.
Dinesh is not short of plans to support his big family. "My career as a building contractor is finished. After my release, I will return to rear cows in my village and sell dairy products in Kathmandu," said the enterprising man. Ten years later, that is.
Meanwhile, the police have different plans. Through this man, the police hope to get clues to nab many other smooth burglars operating unhindered in the growingly insecure Valley, said Superintendent of Police Keshav Adhikari of Lalitpur.Posted on: 2003-11-16 09:06
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