September 26: Less than a month since a group of Chinese hackers stole millions  of rupees from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)  in the capital, other hackers have resumed their business taking advantage of the fragile security system of banks and financial institutions in Nepal.

A group of hackers recently hacked the passwords of staffers of Lahan branch of Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) and withdrew Rs 47.3 million from the bank.

The group was also involved in hacking and stealing money from Panas Remittance and Kailash Bikas Bank.

The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Kathmandu arrested 12 persons while they were withdrawing money from within and outside the Kathmandu Valley. However, the main accused is still at large, said police.

According to police, a foreign national named Peter is the mastermind behind the latest hackings. He devised the plan to hack Nepali banks from India by mobilizing Nepali nationals.

The MPCD said that the group of hackers also stole Rs 1.2 million from New Baneshwar-based Panas Remittance. Superintendent of Police Ishwar Karki said that the police made the arrest while some group members were attempting to withdraw money from Panas Remittance on September 22.

Other members of the gang were also arrested while withdrawing money through cheques.

Police further said that they started investigation into the case after being informed about suspicious activities at Panas Remittance. The company had alerted police of possible irregularity after it received Rs 1.2 million unexpectedly in the name of one of its staff members. After the amount was withdrawn, police kept a close watch on the ones who came to collect the money.

In this process, police first arrested Lawang Tamang who revealed that the group had also hacked the system of ADB and stole millions of rupees.

Police have so far recovered only Rs 4 million from the arrested. Police arrested six others involved in the heist on the same day while five others were arrested from different parts of the country on different dates.

Most of the arrested were found to have opened new bank accounts only a few days ago.

SP Sahakul Thapa, spokesperson of the MPCD, said that the group hacked the system of ADB and transferred money to various accounts of other banks in Nepal. It is not yet clear whether the staff of Agriculture Development Bank were involved in the hacking or not. Police said further investigations are underway.