Terror links: Interpol sets sights on man who led Nepali association in Malaysia

The Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Singapore has requested information from Nepali police about a man who once led a Nepali association in Malaysia, over suspected involvement in terrorist and terrorism-financing activities.

The Interpol bureau sought information for Mahendra Jung Shah, who was former chairperson of the Non-Resident Nepali Association in Malaysia, Nepali news outlet Republica reported this week.

The Interpol suspects Mahendra, a long-term resident of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, of having links to ISIS, Republica reported.

Besides Mahendra, Interpol sought information from Nepal Police on two other Nepalis for suspicion of involvement in terrorism or terror financing.

The others are Dipendra Bahadur Shah and Hem Bahadur Shahi, who is a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) with the Nepal Police.

Nepali migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur

“Nepal Police is conducting an internal investigation into the matter of a DSP having contact with individuals linked to ISIS.

“Investigations will also extend to other suspected individuals,” Nepal Police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki was quoted as saying.

Suspicious death of recruitment agent in M’sia

Mahendra was earlier linked to the suspicious death of a Nepali labour recruitment agent, Rinji Rai, in a workers’ hostel in Malaysia, in April last year.

The Nepali Times reported that his widow, Indrasuwa Rai, claimed two months before his death, Rinji had a heated telephone conversation with Mahendra, who the news website referred to as a Kuala Lumpur-based labour recruiter.

The Nepali Times report was picked up from a report jointly published by Malaysiakini and Nepal Centre for Investigative Journalism.

The joint investigative series won the award for Best Investigative Journalism at the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) Award 2023.

Nepali recruitment agent, Rinji Rai, was found dead at a worker’s dormitory in Nilai

However, the Malaysiakini report did not identify Mahendra as it cannot independently identify that Rinji had spoken to Mahendra in the heated telephone conversation that Inderasuwa said she had heard.

The Malaysiakini-CIJ Nepal series, which covered the death of recruitment agent Rinji, focused on how migrant worker quotas were obtained by fraud, leaving many workers stranded.

Rinji was found dead at a workers’ hostel in Nilai, Negri Sembilan that he visited to check on workers who he recruited, but who were stranded with no jobs.

The Malaysian police declared that he died of suicide, but his family and the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agency want the case to be investigated as murder. - Mkini