Three Nepali migrant labours have been robbed of IRs 52,000 and their belongings at Nepal-India border while they were returning home to Mugu district from Almora in Uttarakhand, India.

 

Lal Bahadur Shahi, 50, of Fotuwa in Sorhakota Rural Municipality, Rajesh Shahi, 19, and Nabin Buda, 18, were looted by two men who identified themselves as Nepalis from Dailekh district. They were returning home to celebrate the Nepali New Year.

 

According to Lal Bahadur, the robbers joined them from Haldwani and on their way gave them cold drinks laced with sedatives and fled with cash and the duos belongings. “Upon reaching the Brahmadev bridge, they persuaded us to go through the jungle saying the distance would be shorter to the bus station,” said Lal Bahadur, “After we reached the middle of the jungle, they offered us orange juice. But we immediately became unconscious after drinking the juice.”

 

Lal Bahadur said that they had their savings—IRs 52,000 in total—and had brought blankets and clothes for their family. “They even robbed my shoes,” said Rajesh, who is Lal Bahadur’s nephew. Nabin is Lal Bahadur’s son-in-law. They had gone to India in search of work after cultivating their wheat fields. They worked as labourer at road construction site in Almora.“I have been working as labour since I was 15,” Lal Bahadur, “I trusted them as fellow villagers only to be left in the lurch.”

 

India’s Sashastra Seema Bal personnel found them in unconscious state at the forest of Nepal-India border on Tuesday evening and handed them over to Brahmadev Police station. They were provided shelter at the police station on Tuesday night. A case has been lodged at the District Police Office, Kanchanpur.“We have learnt that the robbers were Nepali but have not been able to identify them,” said DSP Gyan Bahadur Bista. “We have been searching for the looters.” He said they have been making arrangements to send the robbery victims home.

 

Many Nepalis from West Nepal, who go to various places in neighbouring India for work, are often robbed at the border region during their return journey.