The Department of Immigration has taken into custody nine Chinese nationals from Lalitpur. The DoI has arrested three from Dhobighat and six from Chobhar this afternoon, the department said.
The DoI had conducted a monitoring and search operation based on information that a large number of Chinese nationals were involved in suspicious activities at a house in Dhobighat.
Three people were taken into custody from that house and another six people involved in suspicious activities at Treasures Pvt. Ltd. in Chobhar were taken into custody. According to the department, 18 Chinese passports have also been recovered for investigation.
During the initial investigation, it was revealed that 29 Chinese nationals were living in a four-story house in Dhobighat.
When the department team raided the house, 22 Chinese nationals, including 11 men and 11 women, were found. Of these, four had come to Nepal on business and 18 on tourist visas.
Although all had valid visas, only 18 out of the 22 people handed over passports, according to the DoI. After the remaining four stated that their passports were with legal practitioners for visa purposes, 18 passports have been seized for investigation.
The house was rented by Dragon Bridge International Pvt. Ltd., said Tikaram Dhakal, spokesperson for the Department of Immigration.
Although the house was called a hostel, no official signboard, industry registration, business registration at the local level or other legal documents related to the operation of the hostel were found during the monitoring.
It was found that the woman and the man were kept in the same residence. Dhakal informed that Karma Sherpa and Manju Lama, who claim to be the hostel operators, did not have any records or actual details of the foreign nationals residing there.
Initial investigations have revealed that most of the Chinese nationals are residing in Nepal on tourist visas and are working with Treasures Pvt. Ltd. and Dragon Bridge International Pvt. Ltd. in Chobhar.
“It has been found that they are involved in activities contrary to the purpose of the visa,” he said. “It has been revealed that the house in person is owned by Suman Karki and is being operated on lease by Dragon Bridge International Pvt. Ltd.”
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