Police filed a case in the Kathmandu District Court through the public prosecutor against former minister and chief of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) Shyam Sundar Gupta on Thursday, accusing him of masterminding the kidnapping of Marwari businessman Pawan Sanghai for a hefty ransom.

In the case, the police demanded 17-year jail term along with confiscation of Rs 8.5 million Gupta is accused of receiving from Sanghai.

The case has also named five persons - Akash Lama, Jit Bahadur Gole alias Bikash, Amir Acharya, Kishore Pandey and Bishnu Laxam - as accomplices in the high profile kidnapping case.

The case was filed after preliminary investigation during which Gupta was remanded to judicial custody.

Police had arrested him from his residence in Rupandehi on January 16 when he was there for the wedding of his son taking place the next day.

Gupta, a former sitting lawmaker who has been suspended now, is accused of the kidnapping Sanghai, a rich businessman based in Kathmandu, on December 21 from Kamaladi and releasing him three weeks later after receiving Rs 8.5 million. nepalnews.com