Kathmandu, May 15: Nepal Police have arrested two individuals on charges of human trafficking and smuggling in separate but related cases involving fake promises of migration to the United States and the United Kingdom.
The arrested have been identified as 26-year-old Lokman Khatri of Shantinagar Rural Municipality–3, Dang, and 44-year-old Shiva Bahadur Thapa of Putalibazar Municipality–4, Syangja.
Khatri was arrested by a team from the Human Trafficking Bureau in coordination with the District Police Office, Salyan, while Thapa was arrested from Ward No. 17 of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Kaski.
According to preliminary investigations, Khatri allegedly took Rs. 400,000 from a victim by promising to send him to the United Kingdom on a visit visa and later convert it into a work visa for employment. He later collected an additional Rs. 6,526,780 in instalments, falsely assuring the victim of a job in the United States after the UK plan failed to materialise.
Investigators said Khatri facilitated the victim’s complex travel route on September 3, 2024, via multiple countries including Dubai, India, Qatar, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico, before illegally sending him to the United States. The victim was later arrested by US authorities for illegal entry, jailed for 14 months, and deported back to Nepal on May 1, 2026.
In a separate case, Shiva Bahadur Thapa is accused of luring another victim with promises of a US job. He allegedly kept the victim at Grand Nova Hotel in Dubai for about a month from 11 Baisakh 2078 and collected Rs. 800,000 through an agent for visa processing.
He is further accused of subjecting the victim to physical and mental abuse and repeatedly assuring him of travel to the US. The victim reportedly paid a total of Rs. 14.2 million in instalments.
Thapa allegedly arranged the victim’s transit through several countries, including Bahrain, Turkey, Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, before directing him toward Mexico via dangerous jungle routes to reach the US border. He later demanded an additional USD 20,000 for repatriation, after which the victim was abandoned in Mexico when he could not pay.
The victim eventually coordinated with relatives in the United States and, with assistance from the Nepali Embassy in the US, returned to Nepal on April 15, 2026. #Nepal
