Kathmandu: The growing number of illegal activities carried out by Chinese nationals has become a major source of concern in Nepal. Nepal Police raided a call centre run by Chinese nationals on July 26. Police arrested 36 people during the raid, including a Chinese national, and seized Rs 829,00, as well as 262 laptops and 748 desktop computers. On June 7, four Chinese were apprehended near the Kathmandu border, along with NPR 40 million in cash.
Chinese nationals are setting up illegal call centres in Nepal to target Indians through instant loan apps by providing loans to them at high-interest rates. In one of the call centres, local Nepalis were hired as staff in the guise of promotional activities but were forced to abuse Indian borrowers and blackmail them with morphed pictures. Nepal Police are unaware of why illegal and fraudulent activities by Chinese nationals are increasing in Nepal.
The reason behind the increase in illegal activities is that Nepal as a country welcomes tourists from across the world with trust. The call centres are in the name of Nepalis, they are just like service centres. So, Nepal has become accessible to the Chinese.
In 2017, there were zero fraud/illegal cases registered against the Chinese. In 2019, 94 Chinese nationals were arrested on grounds of public offences, banking fraud, and black marketing. While in 2020, 29 Chinese were taken into custody for online gambling, public offence, kidnapping, and bank fraud. In 2021, again 18 Chinese were arrested for similar criminal cases like online gambling, The Chinese citizens who have been arrested in most of the cases have been acquitted because the operations were hasty.
The violent offenders were found with 747 mobile phones, 331 laptops, 18 CPUs, 99 monitors, 22 pen drives, 327 sim cards, and 67 passports. Advocates in Nepal believe that another new legislative law is needed to combat the country’s growing cybercrime. The arrested Chinese were allegedly involved in a variety of financial crimes such as gambling, betting, and other internet-related frauds facilitated by their call centres. However, Nepal Police found no solid evidence to back up such allegations.
Nepal’s current cyber law ‘The Electronic Transaction Act (2008)’ only supports cases of online crimes like electronic transaction fraud, banking fraud, and hacking but nowadays there are different and new kinds of cybercrime. It is difficult to investigate cybercrimes here. So, there is a need for improvement, Ganga Prasad Poudel, Chief of District Government Attorney Office told WION.
There is no ban on foreigners working in Nepal, but they must obtain a work permit. Chinese citizens enter on a visit visa and renew it every six months, living illegally. Chinese nationals are frequently suspected of being members of a cross-border online betting syndicate. However, neither the immigration agency nor the police has the necessary technology or personnel to confirm the suspicion. As a result, with no other choice, arrested Chinese are deported to China even before being charged.
Chinese networks have spread across the globe, dealing in gold, dollars, wildlife parts, herbal smuggling, hacking, human kidnapping, attempted murder, human trafficking, drug trafficking, online fraud, gambling and gaming centres, and illegal medical practises. According to a senior police official, Chinese activity in Nepal has increased to the point where it has become ‘Chinatown.’
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