By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Mar. 1

Case 1
There is a Facebook account with the name Aditi Chhetri. There is also an attractive photo in her Facebook profile picture. Bidur Thapa (name changed) from Nuwakot received a friend request from Aditi in the first week of January.

Thapa runs a grocery store in Balaju-16, Kathmandu. When there is no customer, he uses the social media as he tends his shop. He accepted Aditi’s request without giving a second thought.
Few days after they became friends on Facebook, they started chatting in a private messenger. During the conversation, Aditi even proposed to go for a walk and have fun. Initially, Thapa was happy with Aditi’s proposal.

They met physically within a week of becoming friends on Facebook. As per Aditi’s proposal, they reached Balaju bypass area for an outing.
On the same occasion, Thapa offered Aditi to stay in a hotel. She agreed. They stayed in a hotel for some time and became involved in physical relation. They both returned home late from Balaju.
Thapa returned home happy that day, feeling nothing bad about the girl.

The next day, he received a phone call from an unknown number. All of a sudden, Thapa received a threatening call, “What did you do with my sister in a hotel yesterday? Will you come to meet me or be ready to face legal action?” “Sure, I’ll meet you. Where should I come?” shocked Thapa replied nervously.
A man who claimed himself to be Aditi’s brother called Thapa to meet him in Balaju for a meeting. During the meeting, Thapa was pressured into giving Rs. 100,000. The man threatened to lodge a rape complaint if he denied doing so.

Thapa then paid Rs. 100,000 to the man and left, thinking that things had settled.
However, the next day, Aditi’s brother threatened him again and demanded Rs. 150,000. Thapa decided to pay the amount instead of getting into legal hassle by completing a paper work.
However, the process of soliciting money from Thapa did not stop.

Weeks later, Aditi’s brother, for the third time, demanded Rs. 1 million. He said that he would lodge a rape complaint with the police if he did not pay the demanded money. Fed up with the persistent threats, he decided to seek help from the police. Thapa has reached the Metropolitan Police Crime Division, complaining that he has been ‘honey trapped’ by a girl.
According to a police official, the girl is being investigated after Thapa’s complaint. The police have openly claimed that the girl used a ‘fake brother’ to extort money from Thapa.

Case 2
Like Thapa, Sabin Shrestha (name changed) of Ramechhap is another victim of honey trap. He also fell into the trap of a girl with Yonjan surname, a young woman he knew through Facebook. After getting acquainted with Yonjan, Shrestha agreed to stay in a hotel in Sundhara. However, when they were about to leave the hotel, Yonjan acted as if she was talking to her own sister and informed that she was coming to the hotel to meet them.

When she came to see them, the girl’s sister started blackmailing Shrestha, saying that she had brought her sister to the hotel. Yonjan’s sister took Rs. 70,000 from Shrestha at that time.
But the matter has not settled yet. Yonjan’s sister has been threatening to file a rape complaint with the police if he does not pay at least Rs. 1 million.
Shrestha also reached the Crime Division last month, complaining that he was made victim of honey trapping.

According to Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, a former Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) has also fallen into the honey trap. The AIG himself reached the police and informed that a young woman had put him in a honey trap.

According to a source at Police Range, victim AIG reached the police station after the girl started bargaining for money at a hotel in Gaushala.
Spokesperson for the Kathmandu Police Range, Superintendent of Police (SP) Dinesh Mainali admitted that the number of cases of honey trapping have been increasing in recent times. He said such criminal activities are on the rise as morality and intimacy are dying down.

“It is illegal for anyone to blackmail someone for money by establishing a relationship. We will take action by bringing such incidents to the legal frame,” said SP Mainali.
Police have also urged people not to connect with strangers on social media.