Businessman Arrested in Surkhet for Illegal Financial Dealings; Gold and Cash Seized
Surkhet. Businessman Shyam Sundar Agarwal (Balaji), 63, of Birendranagar, who was running an illegal financial business under the guise of a clothing trade, has had gold worth approximately 30 million rupees seized from him.
The District Police Office, Surkhet, informed about raiding his secret office on Monday. District Police Office Surkhet spokesperson, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kavindra Singh Bohora, stated that 185 pieces of gold and silver jewelry were recovered from there.
The gold was kept in various bundles and packets. "Its estimated market value is around 30 million Nepali rupees," he said.
Similarly, 219,500 Nepali rupees and 811,800 Indian rupees were also recovered from his possession. The police also stated that a machine used for counting cash was recovered.
Based on a special tip that cash was being lent illegally at high interest by mortgaging Indian rupees and gold jewelry at a clothing store named Shiv Emporium located in the lower market of Birendranagar Municipality-6, a joint team from the Provincial Police Office and the District Police Office, Surkhet, searched the store around 4 PM on Monday.
He previously had Balaji Bastralaya, which he has now converted into Shiv Emporium, and the police raided a secret warehouse located above the Birendrachok market.
According to police spokesperson Bohora, further investigation is underway against the arrested Agarwal.
The police have stated his address as a resident of Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City-10, Banke, currently residing in Birendranagar-6.
However, he is an Indian-origin clothing businessman. Initially, his father came to Nepal and started the clothing business.
It is rumored that he obtained Nepali citizenship from Nepalgunj during the transitional period of the People's Movement of 2062/063 and the Maoist conflict by colluding with the Maoists.
Police sources indicate that since the 2070s, he has been operating an illegal business of lending money by mortgaging gold and has built a network for trading Indian currency under the guise of a clothing store.
According to a person who knows him closely, he was openly engaged in such activities.
"It seems he started this illegal business by exchanging Indian currency brought by Nepalis returning from India during festivals like Dashain and Tihar," the source says, adding, "He used to charge a commission of 3-5% for exchanging Indian currency."
Later, he started charging 3 to 5 percent monthly interest by mortgaging gold to unsuspecting villagers and businessmen.
Since banks have cumbersome procedures and offer limited loans, he had become like an "unofficial bank" for those who needed money quickly.
Sources claim that if this incident is investigated impartially, about 5-7 other prominent families in Birendranagar could also be implicated.
It is also suspected that other prominent individuals have been using him to channel their black money and earn interest.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
