60 kg gold smuggling case: 20 arrested in second round of investigation and 15 still absconding

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested 20 alleged culprits in the second round of investigation into the 60 kg gold smuggling case.

The huge quantity of gold was smuggled to Nepal from the Cathay Pacific Airways from Hong Kong hidden inside brake shoes in July, 2023.

CIB's Spokesperson and Superintendent of Police (SP) Hobindra Bogati told to RSS that they were in the last phase of second round of investigation into the smuggling case.

SP Bogati shared that 15 accused were still absconding. "More details about this issue will be made public through press meet within few days," he added.

Among the arrested ones in the second round were Indian nationals Prashant Ganesh Bajawalkar, Siddanath Ashok Gayakwad, Baijanath Mahadutta Goyal, Dhirajdinesh Bait.

Similarly, police arrested Nepalis namely Surendraman Shrestha of Birgunj-11, Raju Khattri of Suryabinayak-5 in Bhaktapur, Sushil Jakibanja of Madhyapur-15, Kancha Lama of Temal-4 in Kavrepalanchowk.

Police also held Bhim Prasad Timilsina of Namobuddha-10, Rupak Bhandari of Bhumlu-1, Prajwal Acharya of Kathmandu-7, Suraj Shumsher JBR of Subhidanagar in Kathmandu, Kashyap Manandhar of Bafal, Lal Bahadur Kunwar of Satyawati-1 in Gulmi, Arun Kumar Yadav of Jitpur-19 of Bara and Sonam Gurung aka Serap.

A Tibetan person named Ganga Tashi has been nabbed for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of gold, said Bogati.

Police are searching for the absconding accused one while forwarding the investigation into those involved in smuggling of the gold, smelting of gold, transporting the smuggled yellow metal, buying and selling them and managing the money in a planned manner.

A team of the Revenue Investigation Department had confiscated the gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

It may be noted that the CIB, after its first round of investigation, had submitted an investigation report to the District Public Prosecutor Office on September 18 last year demanding over Rs 3.3 billion in fine from 29 accused ones.