Nepal jails students for possessing banned Indian bank-notes

The daily reported that the three men were arrested on August 10 after being caught at Thankot check-point, on the outskirts of Nepal, with 71,000 rupees ($1,578), some of which was in outlawed 500 rupee-notes. Nepal banned transactions of the large denomination Indian currency in July in a bid to counter the growing trade in counterfeit currency, but critics say information about the restriction has been poorly communicated.

“We did not know of the ban on the 500-rupee note,” the newspaper quoted Shekhar Chari as saying, now lamenting in Charkhal prison. A lawyer for the three has said he will appeal the verdict.