The Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday slapped 23-year jail sentence to Indian gangster Uday Shetty, convicting him in a number of crimes including abduction and drug trafficking.

District court judge Narayan Prasad Pokharel announced 23-year imprisonment along with Rs 15 million fine for his involvement in three different crimes - abduction, drug trafficking and forgery.

The court has slapped him 10-year jail sentence for separate abductions of Baburaja Rawal and Niraj Kakshyapati and another two years for abduction carried out as a member of a gang.

Shetty who entered Nepal from India, has also got 10-year jail sentence for drug trafficking and another one year for forgery of stamps of government offices.

Four of his Nepali accomplices in abductions - Pralahad Mahat, Bikas Karki, Mandip Gurung and Bishnu Bahadur G.C - each have been handed down 12-year jail sentence .

Police in their charge-sheet had identified Shetty as a key member of a kidnapping gang run by underworld don Amar Tondon. The gang had received Rs 15 million from each Rawal and Kakshyapati for their release three years ago. Kakshyapati and Rawal were released four and five days after their abduction on different dates.

Shetty, an active member of the Mumbai underworld, had shifted base to Nepal after the police there launched massive manhunt for him for trying to extort money from the family of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in 2003. He was arrested by Nepal Police in 2009. nepalnews.com