Three Arrested for Burglary at Raswapa Leader Balen Shah’s Residence in Kathmandu

Three individuals have been arrested for allegedly breaking into the home of senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (Raswapa), Balen Shah. The arrest was confirmed by SSP Ramesh Thapa of the Kathmandu District Police Office. The accused are 42-year-old Manish Rajwaha from Balaju Heights, 46-year-old Khim Bahadur Khadka from Sindhupalchok, and 45-year-old Sanjay Shrestha from Doti. They were arrested on Friday and Saturday.

According to the police, Manish Rajwaha admitted to the burglary at Balen Shah’s residence. He had previously been arrested on Mangsir 18, 2079 BS (early December 2022) and was serving a 3-year 6-month sentence. On Bhadra 24 (September 2022), during the Gen-Z movement, he escaped from Nakhu prison and had committed thefts at five other locations since then. Police identified him as the main perpetrator of these thefts.

SSP Thapa stated, “He is a fugitive from prison and has been involved in thefts for a long time. We have recovered some laptops stolen from Balen Shah’s house from him.”

Manish had recently been staying at Khim Bahadur’s sand depot. He also has pending theft cases at Kalimati and Maharajgunj police stations.

The stolen items included pipes, broken utensils, silver glasses, bowls, lamps, silver plates, and other materials from an under-construction house. Additionally, a router and two CCTV cameras were recovered from a hotel in Kathmandu where he had been staying.

Khim Bahadur Khadka, the sand depot operator, allegedly received and distributed stolen goods from Manish. The two have known each other for 7–8 years.

Recovered items from the house included imitation gold jewelry resembling Laxmi statues, earrings, headpieces, stone-studded earrings in blue, pink, and green, a pouch, two pieces of bamboo-like sticks, a green-colored earring set, a broken stone necklace, and four small wire-like fragments.

Sanjay Shrestha, who had also previously been imprisoned, knew Manish from their time together in Ramechhap prison. He received two laptops from Manish for 8,000 NPR. From his home in Dhading, laptops, MacBooks, and other items were recovered.