Kathmandu, 2 Jan. Altogether 598,204 tourists visited Nepal in 2012—in increase of 21.4 percent compared to the previous year, Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said. NTB spokesperson Aditya Baral said arrivals from China helped contribute to increased arrivals. India, Europe and USA were traditional arrival points and 75,000 arrivals were recorded from China. The Nepal’s northern neighbour is sending more tourists to Nepal compared to previous years. Tourism officials said arrivals were affected adversely with the uncertainty created by the announcement of constituent assembly elections. State airline Nepal Airlines Corporation hasn’t been able to reap benefits from increased arrivals. Arrivals increased with a slow from Europe. “Arrivals from Europe suffered because of prolonged crisis in the euro Zone,” said Suraj Lamiichane of Sita World Travels. Nnnn BRITON FOUND DEAD IN DHULIKHEL Kathmandu, 2 Jan.: British national Brian Leslie Stokes was found dead in his hotel room in Dhulikhel Wednesday, police said. Police are conducting further investigations. nnnn SEARCH FOR DHURBE COTINUES; MINISTER ASSURES WAYWARD TUSKER WON’T BE KILLED Kathmandu, 2 Jan: Two weeks on and the hunt continues for the rogue elephant ‘Dhurbe’ that went stray from the Chitwan National Park (CNP), rampaging and killing people on its way, Bimal Khatiwada writes in The Kathmandu Post from Chitwan.. A search team had last tracked Dhurbe’s location on Sunday noon at the Bagai region. The pachyderm fitted with the GPS tracking collar has gone out of contact ever since. Foggy and cold weather has added to the problems faced by the search team combing the forest that sprawl across a large area. “Dhurbe is out of contact for the last two days, but our search continues,” Maheshwor Dhakal, the CNP conservation officer, said. “We’re planning to deploy a team in the Parsa Wildlife Reserve where the elephant was located earlier.” More than 150 people are involved in the search mission. Security personnel have been mobilised at the CNP buffer zone on a regular patrol lest Dhurbe should return and cause havoc. Meanwhile, members of the search team have started contracting cold related diseases. “We haven’t slept well for two weeks now. If the search draws out for some more days then many of us are sure to get ill,” said a CNP employee involved in the mission. Nnnn SEARCH FOR PLOTTER, EXTORTIONIST Kathmandu, 2 Jan.:Bhojpura State chief of an underground armed outfit Janatantrik Tarai Madhes Mukti Party, Kameshwor Yadav, is a professional “extortionist and murderer ” who has so far masterminded over half dozen kidnapping and extortions in the Tarai region. The Metropolitan Police Crime Investigation Division (MPCID) arrested him on December 11 in connection with his involvement in a recent extortion episode plotted against the Kathmandu-based businessmen. During investigations, police stumbled upon his involvement in other such cases as well. Police say Yadav alias Abhay, murdered Sambhu Prasad Yadav of Sonarnia in Rautahat on February 2, 2010. The Rautahat District Court had issued an arrest warrant against him, but he has been absconding, police said. Yadav also masterminded a bomb blast in a public vehicle in Rautahat on March 25, 2011. Altogether 11 individuals were injured in the blast. Besides that, he also masterminded two other blasts at the Rautahat court and the Gaur District Development Committee on December 12, 2011. He was behind planting a socket bomb in front a shop in Rautahat on January 9, 2012. According to police, a number of people arrested in Bara and Rautahat with small weapons like home-made pistols have mentioned his name in their statements, claiming that Yadav is the original owner of the weapons they possessed. Yadav and company had been using notorious Indian gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s name for extortion and kidnapping they executed in Tarai districts. On December 11, 31-year-old Yadav was arrested along with his aide Kiran Kumari Singh Rajput. The duo had planned to extort businessmen in the Capital. It was also revealed that they had already extorted above Rs 1 million from a number of businessmen in Kathmandu alone. He was also a member of his outfit’s talks team, which is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation. A press statement issued by MPCID said the extortion racket headed by Yadav would ask their target in Kathmandu to deposit the money in their IME bank account and would retrieve the money from Rautahat’s Garuda Bahar in the name of Mamata Dushad. Police investigations later revealed that Dushad, an imaginary account holder, never existed. Investigations are under way, police said. nnnn