SAF to grant legal, financial support to Indian photographer who is in police custody in Jhapa for past seven months
KATHMANDU, June 1: An organization named South Asian Foundation has announced to grant legal, financial and administrative support to an Indian photographer, Durlav Roy Chaudhary, 24, originally from Hawara, Kolkata of India is currently in police custody in Jhapa, Nepal since the past seven months.
Soon after Ratopati reported about Durlav, the organization announced its support for the Indian photographer.
South Asia Foundation, set up in 1991 at Varanasi in India, founded by Rahul Barua, a development activist and Visiting Faculty of BHU, Varansi.
The organization will provide all sorts of support to Durlav for his release, Rahul Barua, secretary general of the SAF, told Ratopati. “We came to know that Durlav’s witnesses have refused to come to Nepal. So, we will do our best to bring them to Nepal.”
Besides, secretary general Barua maintained that he will visit Jhapa to find out more about the case and raise the issue at the Indian Embassy, Prime Minister’s Office and Chief District Officer’s Office.
Likewise, Suman Pandey, a tourism entrepreneur, has announced to provide financial support to Durlav. “Vlogging plays an important role in promoting tourism business. If any one visits Nepal to create videos and vlogs, we must encourage them. So, I have decided to help Durlav,” Pandey said.
Durlav, who has been working as a photographer for National Geography, Practical Photography, Wall Street Photobook and Times of India including various other media, was remanded to custody for a money laundering case by the District Court of Jhapa.
His case has failed to move forward as his witness has refused to come to Nepal so far.
Durlav was arrested last year after the police confisticated 226 sets of ‘papers’ looking alike dollar bills while he was traveling from Bhadrapur Airport to Kathmandu, according to the police report. Later, the police filed a case in the District Court, Jhapa. Later, a bench of Justice Shankar Bahadur Rai remanded Durlav to custody stating that ‘there are bases to believe that the defendant is guilty’.
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