Share trader Dipendra Agrawal’s custody extended by 4 more days

The custody of share trader Dipendra Agrawal has been extended by four more days. On Friday, the Kathmandu District Court allowed the Kathmandu Police to keep him in custody for further investigation.

Agrawal was arrested on Monday from Tokha on charges of fraud and criminal betrayal of trust. After his arrest, police presented him in court and received a three-day custody order for investigation.

On Thursday, police brought him back to court to request more time. The court had given only one additional day. So, the police presented him again on Friday, and the court granted four more days for investigation.

According to the police, Agrawal was arrested for cheating and betrayal related to share investment deals. He is accused of defrauding one person of around Rs 64.5 million.

The victim is Dinesh Prasad Sah, a 60-year-old originally from Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City–1, now living in Kathmandu-10. A police officer involved in the investigation said that Sah was promised shares but received neither the shares nor his money back.

Even after transferring about Rs 64.5 million to Agrawal’s account, Sah didn’t get any shares. He eventually went to the police.

Following Sah’s complaint, Kathmandu Police registered a case and received an arrest warrant from the district court on Ashar 30. Agrawal was arrested within a week of the warrant being issued.

The police are investigating Agrawal under fraud and criminal betrayal charges. They say this is a large-scale fraud involving one victim and suspect that two more people are involved, but those individuals are still at large and have not been identified publicly.

Agrawal, aged 42, is originally from Biratnagar Metropolitan City–9, but lives in Kathmandu-14. He is also accused of cheating investors and brokerage firms through share trading.

According to reports, Nepal Securities Board (SEBON) has also started action against him. He allegedly bought shares at low prices, spread false rumors to increase their value, and then sold them for profit. He would also use social media to mislead investors by giving fake price targets.

It is also claimed that Agrawal operated 15 TMS (Trade Management System) accounts, using them to trade shares between his own accounts to artificially inflate prices.