Indian photojournalist Chaudhary in Jhapa jail from seven months
Twenty-four-year-old Chaudhary was arrested from Chandragadhi airport on November 18, 2021.
KATHMANDU: A photo journalist, Durlabh Roy Chaudhary, of Kolkata of West Bengal, India, is in Jhapa jail for the past seven months on the charge of carrying fake currency.
Twenty-four-year-old Chaudhary was arrested from Chandragadhi airport on November 18, 2021, in course of visiting Nepal from Kolkata via Kakadvitta check point.
Spokesperson at the District Police Office, Jhapa, Basanta Pathak, said that police seized 226 pieces of photocopy of US 100 dollar from Chaudhary in course of searching his body while he was flying to Kathmandu from Chandragadhi airport.
He said that Jhapa District Court has already issued an order to keep Chaudhary in custody for investigation on the charge of carrying fake currency.
Chaudhary has mentioned in his statement that he visited Nepal to travel hilly touristic areas of Nepal in order to shoot short movie ‘Money is Nothing’ for his YouTube channel. The case is under consideration at the Jhapa District court and his status has been recently made public.
Initiatives are being taken for his release, saying the Indian photo journalist is innocent. Claiming Chaudhary is not fake notes smuggler, Chairperson of National Forum of Photo Journalists, Pradeep Raj Onta requested to release Chaudhary by finalizing the case soon as he had carried fake currency only for video shooting.
Chair Onta shared that Chaudhary works as a freelance photographer in different media including National Geography, World Street Photobook, and Times of India as well as running his own YouTube channel ‘Sniper Monk Travels’.
