NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Expelled Pak embassy staffer leaves Kathmandu

A Pakistan embassy junior staff in Kathmandu, declared ''persona non grata'' by the Nepal government after being caught red-handed while dealing in Indian counterfeit currency, has left for home, a foreign ministry official confirmed.

Aslam Saboor, posted as an UDC/Assistant in the visa section of the Pak mission in the Nepalese capital, was on Wednesday last issued orders to 'Quit Nepal within 72 hours' for involvement in ''activity incompatible with your status" and handed over to the Pak embassy after having been in police custody since last Sunday.

Saboor had been caught red-handed in a Nepali police sting-operation after he sold Indian Rs 500 denomination fake notes amounting to Indian Rs 50,000 to an undercover policewoman.

While the police wanted to press formal charges against Saboor, the Pak mission, headed by Ambassador Fawzia Nasreen, claimed he enjoyed ''diplomatic immunity'' and thus could not be prosecuted for the crime.

Finally, the Nepal government issued the quit orders on Saboor after declaring him as 'persona non grata'. The foreign ministry said Saboor left for Karachi aboard a regular Pakistan International Airlines flight yesterday afternoon.

UNI