Nepali man disguising as Buddhist monk arrested for sending children to India

A Nepali national impersonating a Buddhist monk has been arrested here for trafficking children to a monastery in India, Nepal Police said on Wednesday.

Santabir Lama, 36, who hails from Deuchuli Municipality in Nawalparasi district of western Nepal, was arrested on Tuesday for trafficking children aged 10 to 14 years to India under the pretext of sending them to a monastery in Karnataka.

Lama was arrested while preparing various false documents such as recommendation letters and birth certificates to send two children to India with the false assurance of admitting them to a monastery in Karnataka, police said.

The suspect told them that the monastery had good facilities than the one available in Nepal. During an investigation, it was found Lama had also taken three other children aged between 10 and 14 years from remote rural areas of Nepal to a small monastery in Kathmandu as a transit point, police said.

It has been revealed during investigation that he had earlier also trafficked many children to India under the pretext of sending them to a monastery in Karnataka, promising them a teaching job in a Nepali monastery after returning home.

Police have rescued five children from his confinement and handed them over to Child Workers in Nepal (CIWIN), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working as an advocate for children's rights.

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