Burglars target house of President's niece

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: A gang of robbers yesterday night broke into a house in Reliable Colony in Bhainsepati, Lalitpur and made away with cash and valuables worth over Rs 8 lakh, police said.

The burgled house belongs to Rekha Yadav, niece of President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, and her husband Bishnudev Yadav, an employee at Nepal SBI Bank. It was not known whether the robbers deliberately chose to burgle the house of kin of the President, but the incident has once again exposed Valley’s security situation. What is more insulting for the red-faced police is the house is just a stone’s throw away from the house of SSP Kedarman Singh Bhandari.

Lalitpur Police Chief SP Bhog Bahadur Thapa said the robbers wielded sharp weapons and pistols and held family members and two private security guards hostage for more than 45 minutes before raiding the house at around 12.45 am. “They forced the Yadav family to open the safe,” he said.

Investigating official ASI Bharat Bajgain said the robbers made away with Rs 1 lakh cash, 10 tolas of gold, one kg of silver, one movie camera, one digital still camera, four wrist watches and one mobile phone set.

The robbers had first tied hands of private security guards and warned them not to resist. Rojin Rai (24) of Dhankuta, one of the guards, said, “The robbers had their faces covered. ”

A police source said there were two Nepali Army soldiers ‘deployed’ in the house of the Yadavs. “They were unarmed,” said the source but failed to explain for what purpose they were there. He added that police were clueless about their identities as well, as the Yadavs ‘did not cooperate with the investigating officials’. “The family did not even want us to make the incident public,” he said. The burglars are said to have warned the family of ‘dire consequences’ if they informed police. When police reached the incident site at around 2am, the robbers had already fled the scene. Security guards had tried to stop police from entering the colony, saying it was an order from SSP Bhandari.

Police have detained two security guards. The burglars are at large.