Mahendra Jung Shah, a Nepali national deported from Malaysia in 2016 for allegedly funding the terrorist group Isis, was alleged to have returned to Malaysia.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, however, Mahendra denied any wrongdoing on his part, insisting he was never involved in any terrorism-related activities.
Elaborating on his previous deportation, he said he was detained for 14 days to assist probes by Malaysian authorities before being sent back to Nepal.
“If I were truly a terrorist, I would have surely been charged under Malaysia’s strict laws,” he pointed out.
While he claimed that Nepal authorities, including the nation’s Interpol forces, had cleared his name once he returned to his home country, he declined to provide any documentation to back his assertion.
When asked about how he had entered Malaysia, where he is understood to still be residing, he said such queries should be directed to the Immigration Department.
Visa raises red flags
Immigration Department sources told Malaysiakini that Mahendra had returned to Malaysia using a professional visa (DP10), typically given to high-skilled persons or those holding senior management positions.
“Under Malaysian laws, foreigners believed to be involved in terrorist activities are supposed to be permanently barred from entering the country. But I’m not sure how (Mahendra) managed to enter here again.
“How did he slip through and come into Malaysia again?” one source asked.
Besides the source, at least two other migrant worker agents from Nepal claimed that Mahendra had returned to Malaysia and is currently running a laundry business while providing cleaning services.
Arrest, deportation, and denials
It was previously reported that the Counter Terrorism Office (E8) under Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Division had detained Mahendra on Aug 19, 2016, before deporting him on Sept 2 the same year.
The inspector-general of police (IGP) at the time, Khalid Abu Bakar, had confirmed the matter, adding that the man was found to have been involved in managing entertainment centres and a hotel.
“We believe he is responsible for falsifying documents to ease the travels of terrorists,” Khalid said in a statement then.
Nepal’s then-ambassador to Malaysia, Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat, said the man was arrested for his alleged involvement in issuing fake Malaysian visas to as many as 140 foreign nationals, including 36 Nepalis.
Commenting on Niranjan’s accusations against him, Mahendra alleged that the claims stem from a personal grudge after the businessperson filed a corruption complaint against the diplomat in Nepal.
“He (Niranjan) tried to slander me by linking me with Isis, an organisation that I don’t know and have no connection with,” Mahendra said.
As of press time, Malaysiakini’s attempts to contact Deputy IGP Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, who led the E8 office from 2013 to 2019, have been unsuccessful.
Companies trail and disputed personal links
Based on Companies Commission (CC) records secured by Malaysiakini, Mahendra is linked with an address of a Taman Maluri apartment in Cheras, Selangor.
The publicly available documents show that he has been the director of Stellar Diamond Sdn Bhd since May 2024 and holds 40 percent or 225,000 shares of the company, which provides cleaning services. The company’s remaining shares are owned by a local.
In September 2024, Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Singapore requested information from the Nepal police about Mahendra, who once led a Nepali association in Malaysia, over suspected involvement with terrorists and terrorism-financing activities.
Interpol suspects Mahendra, a long-term resident of Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, of having links to Isis, Nepali news outlet Republica reported then.
Malaysiakini also sighted a July 29, 2024, letter from Singapore’s Interpol, which mentioned that a Vietnamese woman, Nguyen Thi Ngan, had travelled with the man to Singapore on July 21 the same year.
Thi Ngan has also been a director in HSS Cleaning Services Sdn Bhd since May 2019. She holds 30 percent of the company’s shares, while the remaining stake is owned by the same Malaysian shareholder in Stellar Diamond.
Malaysia’s immigration records show that Thi Ngan had married a Malaysian and is currently in the country via a long-term spouse visa. CC documents, however, state that she shares the same Taman Maluri address as Mahendra.
Malaysiakini’s visit to the address in question found that Thi Ngan is living in the home with three children, the eldest of whom is 10 years old, while the youngest is a five-month-old baby.
According to marriage certification information obtained by Malaysiakini, Thi Ngan’s 65-year-old husband is said to reside at a separate apartment in Pandan Jaya. Checks with the Election Commission’s (EC) database showed that he hails from Kampung Tunku, Damansara.
A source with the Immigration Department, however, claimed that Thi Ngan had falsified her marriage, with the union said to only exist on paper to ensure that her children secure citizenship.
Malaysiakini’s efforts to contact the man said to be Thi Ngan’s husband were unsuccessful. Thi Ngan cited an overseas trip in declining to provide any comments on the matter.
Mahendra insisted that Thi Ngan is not his wife and refuted claims of any intimate relationship with the woman, who he said is his business partner and “good friend”.
“She is the wife of a friend of mine. Photographs of us together don’t mean that we are married,” he added.
When asked about the shared home address, he said he had never resided in the Taman Maluri residence, claiming that he used the address when registering his companies, as he did not have a permanent address in Malaysia.
Denies role in death
Mahendra also strongly denied claims alleging his involvement in the suspicious death of a Nepali labour recruitment agent, Rinji Rai, in a workers’ hostel in Malaysia, in April 2023.
“There is a person who has been trying to blackmail me for nearly a year now. When I refused to make payment, they spread videos and made false reports based on their jealousy and vengeance,” he said.
He further claimed that he has evidence of the alleged blackmail attempts.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Home Ministry and is awaiting a response. - Mkini
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