The central Kathmandu tourist district of Thamel has now become a centre for illegal trade in guns and small arms.The nation's one and only major tourist hub Thamel has become a major centre for illegal exchange and buying for small arms, which threatens the safety of foreign tourists, said chief of the Kathmandu District Police also known as Metropolitan Police Range (MPR), Hanumandhoka Jaya Bahadur Chand."We fear that Thamel is becoming a hub zone for exchange and buying of illegal drugs and to peddlers are also increasing in the area," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chand, chief of MPR, Kathmandu.According to Chand, Thamel, Kalanki chowk, the one and only entry point in the capital from South-West region via India, Tatopani area of Sindhupalchowk district in North-East part of the capital are the major routes for import of small arms and guns. According to the police side, over 90 per cent of small arms and guns imported in Nepal from Southern border of India, where Nepal share open cross border exchange treaty with the Indian government.
