The latest incident, adding to a long list of children and adolescents used in crime, involved a 15-year-old seventh grader. He was arrested three months ago while extorting from District Election Officer Dilip Yadav. The District Court refused to register the case and ordered the boy to be taken to a correction center. [break]
In his statement to police, Sandesh Kumar Mahara of Siraha Municipality said that he was instructed by another boy of similar age to extort from the government official in return for Rs 4,000. He is now out but has to keep reporting to police.
Police could not arrest anyone else in the case, though, according to investigators there are enough grounds to conclude that the teenager was used by a criminal group.
In two student kidnap cases in the district last year, classmates of the victims were found to have been used as accomplices or informers, police said.
A fifth grader allegedly helped criminals kidnap classmate Santosh Sah, 10, while he was returning from school in Mirchaiya in September. Similarly, a ninth grader allegedly played a role in guiding classmate Shikhar Lamichhane, 14, into a kidnap net about one-and-half years ago in Lahan.
"It is believable that they did it deliberately. They were rather used by the criminals," says Sunil Sah, a human rights worker who heads Samagra Janautthan Kendra (SJK), a local NGO.
According to police, investigation into the abduction of Subash Sah, 12, from Lahan in the first week of April has now revealed that a teenager and close relative of the victim was involved in the plot.
"We are looking into the extent of his role. He is being detained," said an investigator. Santosh was released after 12 days in return for Rs 300,000.
The kidnapping of Nagendra Mahato, 5, from Mirchaiya in September also involved a junior relative, police said.
"This is a very bleak picture of our society. Criminals are using children and teenagers, and the atmosphere has even criminalized tender minds," said SP Ramesh Bhattarai, chief of Siraha District Police Office.
According to investigators, one Dwarika Mahato, a cunning criminal who has a strong nexus in the five central Tarai districts of Sarlahi, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Siraha and Saptari, has made extensive use of teenagers, mostly +2 students, in his activities. They are found to have been involved in roadside robberies and kidnappings.
"We know that the students are basically used in collecting information about targets and that some of them have already increased their roles beyond mere connivance," said Inspector Bipin Regmi at Area Police Office, Lahan.
"More surprisingly, we have information that even girls are used by the criminal gangs," he added.
Besides organized gangs or underground groups using minors or youngsters as tools, there are also a few cases of youths taking to crime on a whim. Dev Kumar Sah, a local businessman of Lahan, was kidnapped about four months ago and the kidnappers turned out to be one of his own employees and a local student. Shah was rescued by police.
"Deterioration of the security situation has mislead the young minds. Crimes revolve around money and youngsters are misused by criminals. There is a danger of losing a large chunk of the upcoming generation to crime," said Shah.
"It starts from petty crimes like pick-pocketing and small robberies, goes on to roles in kidnapping and finally, as we have seen, ends up in the possession of arms. It does not take many years," said Regmi.
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