A British man has been arrested in Nepal on suspicion of child sexual abuse two years after UK police tipped off authorities in the Himalayan country.

The 50-year-old was arrested in an apartment in the capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday morning. Police said they found three underage boys on the premises.

“We have been monitoring him since the last three weeks after his arrival in Nepal,” said Kabit Katwal, the Central Investigation Bureau officer who led the raid on his apartment. “He was found luring underaged children, buying stuff for them, and indulging in paedophilia.”

The boys found in the apartment were aged between 13 and 15, he added.

The suspect entered Nepal on 29 December last year with another man, police said. Two Nepalese identified as “helpers” were also found living in the apartment in the Ravi Bhawan neighbourhood.

Uma Prasad Chaturvedi, superintendent of police, said authorities had received an Interpol request to look into the suspect in 2016 and again when he entered the country in December.

The Briton was on his 16th visit to Nepal, where he appeared to have a strong network. Chaturvedi said police were investigating whether he had also entered the country in 2017.

The man is currently detained at the CIB’s headquarters in Kathmandu. The three boys found in his apartment were receiving counselling, Chaturvedi said.

There were 361 requests from UK nationals for consular assistance in relation to allegations of child sexual abuse between 2013 and 2017, according to Foreign Office data.

Most of the requests came from Britons arrested in the US (124), followed by Australia (40) and Spain (39).

There were a handful of requests received from what are considered hotspots for abuse by overseas nationals – including Indonesia, the Philippines and India – suggesting many more people have been arrested without the knowledge of UK authorities.

Katwal said Nepal authorities had made child sexual abuse a national priority and were working with civil society groups to tackle the problem.