The Nepal government has deported 122 Chinese nationals, who were arrested on suspicion of engaging in "cyber and financial" crime, as authorities in the Himalayan nation could not gather enough evidence to indict and imprison them.

The detainees left for the Chinese city of Kunming on board two planes on Wednesday (08 January), reports The Himalayan Times.

"The 122 Chinese were found guilty of indecent behaviour... Acting upon the verdict and complying with the immigration laws, we deported them," Eshwor Raj Poudel, Director General of Department of Immigration said.

The Chinese nationals were arrested on 23 December, 2019 on suspicion of using social media to swindle money from the rich, single and divorced Chinese women, running an illegal online gambling racket, operating Ponzi scheme and blackmailing Chinese by hacking their private information from phones and computers.

They were booked for "indecent behaviour" as some were found engaging in activities that breached the terms and conditions of their visas while others were not even in possession of their passports.

But, Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Janakraj Dahal freed them on 5 January, slapping each with a fine of 1,000 Nepalese rupees.

Police then handed them over to the Department of Immigration for their deportation.

All 122 of them have been banned from travelling to Nepal for four years.

These Chinese nationals were mainly into banking frauds and illegal financial transactions. Also Nepali girls are being trafficked in large numbers to China to be sold as ‘brides’.

The Interpol had tipped off the Nepal Police about the activities of the Chinese nationals. Most of them had entered Nepal illegally since valid passports could be recovered from only 67 of them.

(With inputs from IANS.)