A Kathmandu-based businessman who had come to his home district of Jhapa to celebrate Dashain-Tihar was killed by a criminal gang after being lured into buying cheap gold.
It has been revealed that 32-year-old Sanjay Sharma of Maidhar, Shivasatakshi Municipality-10, Jhapa, who was doing business in Kathmandu, was killed by the lure of cheap gold. Sharma, who had come to his home district of Jhapa to celebrate Dashain-Tihar, not only fell for the criminal gang's fraud scheme, but also took his life by luring him with cheap gold.
According to police investigation, Sharma, who had been doing business in Kathmandu for some time, had told his neighbor Sunil Sah to look for gold, saying that if he found gold cheaply, he would buy it and would also buy it from Kathmandu merchants.
Sah had planned to rob Sharma's money a month ago on the pretext of looking for gold. Sah's plan was to rob the money, kidnap him and take him to India, and hold him hostage there to extort crores of rupees. As per the same plan, when Sharma came to Jhapa during Dashain-Tihar, on the same occasion, on October 21, Sah took Sharma to the community forest area in Arjundhara Municipality-4, Dahijhoda, saying, "I will bring the gold and show you where it is buried." After reaching the secluded forest area at 5:30 pm, Sah and his nephew Rahul Sah killed Sharma using a hammer, the District Police Office, Jhapa, informed in a press conference organized on Sunday.
After the murder, the uncle and nephew, with the help of an Indian citizen, buried Sharma's body in the Biring Khola ravine of Jhapa Rural Municipality-5 on the Hulaki Highway. After burying the body, they returned to Sharma's car and tried to destroy evidence by setting the car on fire in the forest area of Mechinagar-12, Nichajhoda under the Charali-Chandragadhi road section, police said. However, police found Sharma's slippers some distance from the place where the car was burned.
Police have arrested Sunil Sah and his nephew Rahul and are investigating, while the Indian citizen, who was involved in the incident, is absconding, police said.
A case of kidnapping and murder has been registered against the accused. Police have said that the search for the absconding accused has been intensified.
