Public prosecutors have filed a charge sheet against former Minister and CA member, Shyam Sundar Gupta and his five accomplices at the Kathmandu District Court today, seeking up to 17 years jail term for each for their involvement in the kidnapping of businessman Pawan Sanghai.

Pawan Sanghai, an owner of a pharmaceutical company was abducted near his residence on December 20 and was held hostage in Kavre district for nearly three weeks. He returned home after his family paid a ransom amount of Rs 8.5 million. Gupta is accused of masterminding the kidnapping and using the help of Akash Lama, Jit Bahadur Gole, Kishor Pandey, Amir Acharya and Arzoo Subba.

Gupta was arrested on January 17 from Bhairahawa as he was preparing for his son’s wedding. The police investigation also revealed that Gupta had collected more than Rs 23 million from different individuals promising to send them to the United States for employment.

The Kathmandu District Court is scheduled to begin the hearing tomorrow on whether to grant bail to all the accused. If bail is denied then they will be remanded to judicial custody until the court issues its final verdict on the case.


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