Greyman Blog

 Rajasthan, India. 

Kisan Mokhtan. A major Nepalese trafficker and circus owner

Last Monday evening The Grey Man, conducted its first successful operation on the Indian continent with its partner agency The Esther Benjamins Trust and the assistance of FSI Worldwide, resulting in the arrest of Kisan Mokhtan, a major trafficker of young children.  Nepalese police have been searching for Mokhtan for the last four years.  In this operation The Grey Man provided an intelligence operative to assist the local team and he was withdrawn just prior to the arrest.

The raid occurred on Mokhtan’s circus on Monday night.  The Esther Benjamins Trust had 15 signed statements from girls whom Mokhtan had trafficked in the past and were being sheltered in Hetauda. Two girls who had been reported as missing in Nepal were also found in Mokhtan’s circus.  The Esther Benjamins Trust Director, Philip Holmes provided some details of the operation

‘His small circus moved into Rajasthan for a festival last week and due to intense efforts of our combined team along with the Rajasthan police we were able to raid his circus on monday evening. Since India banned the use of wild animals in circuses many Nepalese children have been trafficked into Indian circuses each year where they are physically and sexually abused’.  The Esther Benjamins Trust has rescued over 150 of them.

It was a good outcome but the problem was going to be to get Mokhtan extradited back to Nepal. There is an extradition treaty between India and Nepal but no one has been extradited for 25 years.  Mokhtan could only be held for 48 hours and Esther Benjamins Trust and The Grey Man worked feverishly behind the scenes, calling in favours from anyone who had influence, to ensure that he wasn’t released.

At one stage the police actually detained our people which seemed to be an attempt at harassment and obstruction.  This is indicative of the problems we face in these countries where the police are often remiss in carrying out their duties and corruption is always a possibility.

Luckily a human rights lawyer was brought in and the Esther Benjamins Trust has now transported the families of girls previously trafficked by Mokhtan to Rajasthan to lodge formal complaints.  This should result in Mokhtan being charged with serious offences and hopefully jail time in India, followed by extradition to Nepal and jail time there as well.

A Grey Man covert team as well as two Grey Man intelligence operatives were in India for a few weeks leading up to the arrest.  This is a good start to our work in India and we hope to have more arrests and rescues there in the future. 

Well done to our people in the field and thanks to our partners The Esther Benjamins Trust (www.ebtrust.org.uk) and the assistance from FSI Worldwide (www.fsi-worldwide.com) who are an international security firm and ethical labour force recruitment company that uses former Ghurka soldiers in many roles.

John Curtis
President
The Grey Man organisation

On November 11, 2009, a joint operation with the Thai CWD (Crimes Against Women & Children Division), Region 5 Police, Swiss Police, Forensic Police and The Grey Man resulted in the arrest of a former Swiss banker, Cornel Josef Wietlisbach.  The arrest made the front page of a number of Thai newspapers as well as Blick newspaper in Switzerland.  After receiving intelligence from a young boy who had been abused, a Grey Man surveillance team watched the suspect’s hotel room and noticed a number of Akha hill tribe boys going to Wietlisbach’s room.  Ethnic minority groups, such as the Akha, are a typical target of paedophiles due to their poverty. On the basis of the testimony of the young boy and the surveillance material an arrest warrant was issued.  In the joint operation Wietlisbach opened the door and a police officer then told him that he was under arrest on the charge of sexual penetration of a child under the age of fifteen. The suspect showed some resistance to his arrest but finally calmed down. The police announced his basic rights and took him into custody. There were two boys sleeping in the bed and they were taken to the police station in a separate vehicle.

Searching the suspec'ts room

Wietlisbach denied all charges and refused to say a word until his lawyer arrived.  A search of his room found an external flash drive and a digital camera contained pictures of unidentified naked boys.  Other forensic evidence was also collected.

Wietlisbach was denied bail and his court case will be scheduled for 2010.  A nice christmas present for Grey Man but no Happy New Year for Wietlisbach.

John Curtis

Wietlisbach arrested