ISLAMABAD: Two Indians were among eight people arrested in Kathmandu for possessing uranium-like substances, which were brought from India to be sold illegally in Nepal, the Nepali police said.

According to the Indian newspaper, Deccan Herald, the police on a tip-off, arrested eight people after they recovered these substances from a car parked in the parking lot of a five-star hotel in Boudha, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

The two Indians were identified as Upendra Kumar Mishra and Raju Thakur, both natives of Bihar, while the six others were all Nepal nationals, police said. The arrests were made as they were preparing to sell the valuable item for Rs350 million per kg, the newspaper quoting the Press Trust of India said.

It said the police arrested Bhupendra and Nawaraj from the parked car, where the substance was hidden and six others were arrested on the basis of information furnished by them.

Eight people have been arrested on charges of illegally trading in Uranium, according to Nepal Police headquarters source. Authorities have also seized nine mobile phones from them.

“We have recovered some substances, which look like uranium. It will be sent to the laboratory to ascertain whether they are uranium,” Dinesh Mainali, Superintendent of Police from the Metropolitan Police Range said. The police have initiated a further investigation into the matter after taking the eight people under detention, the paper said.

In March 2021, four Nepalese nationals were arrested for possessing 2.5 kilograms of unprocessed uranium.