Nepal sends off Pak clerk with fake notes

Masood was caught red-handed by the Royal Nepal Police in New Baneshwar area of Kathmandu with fake Indian currency of Rs 500 denomination amounting to Rs 45,000. He was taken into custody, but released later the same night at the intervention of the Pakistan High Commissioner. Mustafa was apparently trying to sell the currency. It must be noted that this is not the first time a Pakistan High Commission official in Nepal has been caught trading in either explosives or fake currency. Consider this:

• January 3, 2001: Siraj Ahmed Siraj, a clerk with the Pakistan High Commission in Kathmandu, was detained during the SAARC Summit for exchanging fake Indian currency.

• April 12, 2000: Mohammed Arshad Cheema, a first secretary in Pak High Commission, was picked up with wife Rubina from the guest house of Pakistan-based Company, Satchel Engineering Pvt Ltd, again in the New Baneshwar area. Search resulted in the seizure of 16 kg RDX. He was deported in 24 hours. Cheema also played a vital role in the hijacking of Kathmandu-Delhi flight IC-814 to Kandahar.

• November 1998: Asam Saboor, again a clerk with the Pakistan High Commission, was nabbed trying to exchange a consignment of counterfeit Indian currency amounting to Rs 50,000. He was also named in the Lakhbir Singh case which involved passing on RDX to Sikh militants. Even Cheema was named in Lakhbir case.

South Block officials say, it is clear that the main target for Pakistan operatives in Nepal is India. In fact, sources said, the Pakistan mission there is unduly overstaffed with over 30 officers and staffers, most of whom are apparently affiliated to the ISI.

It’s learnt that Nepal is aware of this and has been considering asking Islamabad to downsize its mission strength in Kathmandu.