KATHMANDU, May 21: Police arrested Bishnu Tamang aka Kale, a serial burglar who had struck fear into the minds of the Kathmandu Valley denizens and served a six-year jail term till 2015 for previous robberies, from his hideout in the capital on Monday morning, three years after his last reported robbery. 

According to the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Teku, a team of officials from the division arrested Tamang, 30, of Melamchi Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, from Tokha, Kathmandu, at around 7:30 am on Monday. He is allegedly involved in more than 18 robberies in the capital spanning from 2008 to 2016. Even after receiving a jail term for the robberies he carried out before his arrest in 2009, Tamang has been accused of involvement in 10 robberies, allegedly looting as much as Rs 10 million from different people.

The MPCD has reported that the team of officials had to shoot at  Tamang in order to take him under control. “When the team finally confronted Tamang after receiving information about his location, he tried to evade arrest and pointed his gun at them,” spokesperson for MPCD, Superintendent of Police (SP) Kedar Dhakal told Republica, “As an act of retaliation, the team had to shoot him in the leg to bring him under control.” 

Police have seized a country-made gun and five bullets from Tamang who had been on the run since his last reported robbery in 2016. Police have said that he is currently receiving treatment at Bir Hospital. 

Burglar Tamang came into the limelight in 2009 after he reportedly broke into a dozen houses in Budhanilkantha area including the house of the then SP Bishwa Raj Shahi. “Shahi was held captive in his own house with his hands bound in bondage with a rope while Tamang robbed the house in daylight,” SP Dhakal said, “In addition, he also robbed former Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Jay Bahadur Chand.”

However, these high profile robberies only led to Tamang’s fall as police finally netted him in 2009. The Kathmandu District Court sentenced him to six years in prison from August 22, 2009, to August 23, 2015.

Tamang’s involvement in robberies only increased after he got out of jail in 2015. “After remaining underground for a few months, Tamang went on a spree of ten robberies in ten months,” SP Dhakal said, “In the ten robberies, he looted as much as Rs 10 million.”

According to the MPCD, Tamang’s last robbery took place on July 12, 2016, when he robbed two houses in the Nagarjun Municipality area where he looted Rs 444,000 and Rs 500,000 in broad daylight.

 
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