Eleven More Victims File Fraud Case Against Gold Shop Owner

Biratnagar. Eleven more victims have filed a joint complaint at the District Administration Office, Morang, alleging fraud of millions of rupees by the operator of 'Shubhalaxmi Adhikari Sun Chandi Pasal' located in Ramailo Bazar, Kanepokhari-6, Morang.

The complaint, filed on Monday, Asar 1, states that the shop operator Homnath Adhikari, his wife Batuladevi Adhikari, sons Dhruv and Manoj Adhikari, and their daughters-in-law's families have misappropriated their entire assets.

Previously, on Jestha 7, local Bishnumaya Giri had filed a complaint alleging fraud of 2.917 million rupees.

The condition of the victims who went to file the complaint is extremely dire and pathetic. Some have lost the money they saved through lifelong hard work, while others have lost the money saved for medical treatment, leaving them on the streets.

Victim Durgamaya Mangrati said that she has not received back the money she deposited, nor the money deposited by her father Bir Bahadur Bayalkoti. Durgamaya said, 'My father had saved his old-age allowance. He passed away while we were discussing the money.'

Another 74-year-old, Narayan Dhimal, has cancer and is undergoing regular chemotherapy. His concern was how he would manage his treatment now that his deposited 265,000 rupees has not been returned.

'This is money I painstakingly saved by selling cigarettes and tobacco,' Dhimal said. Suffering from lung cancer, he is currently struggling for money for treatment.

'My insurance has also stopped, and now I have no money for treatment. We must get our money back,' he lamented.

Similarly, Gangabahadur Gurung and his wife Degmaya Gurung had saved about 1.1 million rupees at the shop. Local elderly Balmaya Gurung had saved 1.65 million rupees through hard work by raising goats and sheep and collecting dung in the village. 'Now we are in a state of despair at home. Villagers say we got what we deserved. We are ruined,' she said.

Dilmaya Dhimal from the same place had kept her sister's 469,697 rupees at the shop. She said she kept the money at the gold shop because depositing it in the bank would be cumbersome.

According to the written application submitted to the District Administration Office, Morang, the additional 11 victims include Arjun Sangraula, Narayan Dhimal, Hari Poudel, Dilmaya Dhimal, Chalimaya Sangraula, Birbahadur Bayalkoti, Durgamaya Mangrati, Bakhrelal Dhimal, Kalawati Gurung, Salbahadur Gurung, and Gangabahadur Gurung-Degmaya Gurung.

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The operator Homnath and Batulidevi were preparing to flee to America after misappropriating nearly 120 million rupees from more than 250 ordinary people. During that time, a 'Debt Recovery Committee' was formed at the local level under the leadership of former chairman of the Land Commission Morang, Nabin Poudel, to suppress the incident.

According to the administration's investigation, Poudel had been stalling the victims under the pretext of resolving the issue, preventing them from seeking legal recourse. Poudel had transferred 1 Bigha of land registered in the name of operator Batulidevi to the name of his close associate Kashiraj Thapa and started plotting it instead of returning the money to the victims.

Victims claim that Poudel even threatened the main complainant Bishnumaya Giri, saying, 'I will not give you your money under any circumstances, go and hang yourself and die.'

Some victims stated that the committee led by Poudel collected money from the victims instead of recovering the amount. Victim Arjun Sangraula said that the committee took 1,000 rupees for every 100,000 rupees that was lost. 'They took money from the victims saying they were collecting it. I gave 5,000 rupees. Some said they gave 16,000, some 10,000,' he said. 'Instead of returning the money, they took money from us. Nothing has happened so far.'