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Explainer: What is the 33.5 kg gold smuggling case all about?

Kathmandu, May 3

The smuggling and disappearance of 33.5 kg gold smuggled into Kathmandu has become the most talked-about issue across the country for past few days after an investigation found the involvement of high police officials in the incident.

Just on Wednesday, the Morang District Attorney’s Office filed a case against 63 suspects in connection with the case.

But, what happened in past four months that led the arrest of a former DIG among seven police officials? Here is a summary of major incidents:

January 21

As much as 33.5 kilograms of smuggled gold brought from the United Arab Emirates landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold, which was initially thought to belong to smuggler Chundamani Upreti aka Gore, however, disappeared before reaching its owner. It has now been revealed that it belonged to MK Agrawal.

March 3

While a search for this precious metal was underway, mule Sanam Shakya was kidnapped and tortured to death. After the murder, his body was wrapped in a towel along with a mattress and tarpaulin and was being taken to Biratnagar-3 in a Scorpio jeep (Ba 12 Cha 5963) when it was found by police, who stopped the vehicle during a regular check. The body had bruises and injuries.

Tej Raj Malla, Narendra Karki alias Krishna and Mohan Kafle were held on suspicion of the murder.

Police issued a notice regarding the body and arrestees on the same day. The same evening, police issued another notice stating that Shakya was kidnapped and murdered in the southern part of Siraha for smuggling the gold. The Federal Police Office of Province 1 and Morang District Police Office held a press conference to make public the arrestees and provide detail report of the incident.

The following day, police changed their statement and said that he was killed at Solti Khola of Urlabari-1 in Morang, not Biratnagar.

March 3-April 22

A complaint was filed at the Nepal Police Headquarters that Morang police neglected such a serious incident. The Home Ministry then formed a probe committee under the leadership of Joint Secretary Ishwar Poudel for investigation. The panel suspected the involvement of senior members of the police.

It was also suspected that police personnel involved changed their statement to help mastermind Gore run away. Police raided the mastermind’s Baneshwor-based home to find gold bars and cash in his clothes.

Police then arrested 38 suspects including gold dealers of eastern Nepal and suspended their financial transactions.

Later, in the course of the investigation, 17 people were arrested.  Other 21 suspects were still at large.

April 22

Police arrested former DIG Govinda Niraula as he was found to be in contact with the smugglers during his tenure as TIA police chief. After his arrest, SSP Dibesh Lohani, DSP Prajit KC, and SI Bal Krishna Sanjel were recalled to the headquarters.

April 24

SP Bikash Raj Khanal of Makawanpur District Police Office and DSP Sanjay Raut at Itahari Area Police Office were called to the Home Ministry to testify. Khanal was sent to judicial custody after recording the statement whereas Raut left the ministry before he completed recording the statement and went out of contact. According to the investigation committee, both were in constant touch with Gore.

However, Raut came into contact with the committee after a circular was issued against him.

The trio was presented before the Morang District Court and remanded into three-day custody under organised crime and murder case.

April 27

Interpol issued a diffusion notice against Gore suspecting him to be hiding in foreign land. Later, the probe committee came to know that Gore himself had informed a police official about the incident and asked them to hide the body, promising them Rs 50 million.

SSP Lohani, however, denied his role in the incident saying that they had actually planned to catch Gore by accepting the deal. Lohani, in his statement, claimed that they had also informed then IGP Prakash Aryal of their plan. On the basis of the statement, the committee has kept Aryal under suspicion.

On the same day, DIG Gyan Bikram Shah secretly met the three police officials–Niraula, Khanal, and Raut–for half an hour. Shah refused to inform media about the private meeting.

April 29

The committee called another DSP, Prajit KC, for his statement and detained him as his statement was suspicious. The committee had also called SSP Shyam Khatri, but he remained at large. By April 29, police arrested 28 suspects.

During the investigation, two suspects committed suicide whereas one was murdered. TIA staffer Sanu Ban crushed himself to death in front of a tanker, whereas Sanam Shakya was murdered. Prem Raj Chaudhary also committed suicide in police custody.

May 2

Police filed charge sheets against 63 persons for their involvement in kidnapping, organised crime, and murder.

Police also arrested SSP Dibesh Lohani.

May 3

The Morang District Court began recording statements from the defendants.

Of the seven police officers arrested, Constable Bishnu Bahadur Khadka has admitted his involvement in the smuggling case. He also revealed the hand of other high-level TIA officials in smuggling the gold.

Khadka worked as a driver to SSP Shyam Bahadur Khatri. The smuggled gold was transported using his vehicle and handed over to the smugglers.

Khadka confessed of handing over the gold to smuggler Mohan Kafle aka Darhiwal as directed by SSP Khatri. Kafle first received Rs 5000, later Rs 10,000 for transporting the smuggled precious metal.

When the smuggled gold got caught, they were escorted by either SP Bikash Raj Khanal or DSP Sanjay Bahadur Raut and presented before DIG Niraula and Khatri.

Both Niraula and Khatri waited in their chamber for the arrival of gold. Later, when Khanal was transferred to police headquarters, DSP Raut and SSP Khatri took his responsibility.

Even SSP Khatri’s bodyguard, constable Amar Bahadur Thapa Magar, used to escort near the office, revealed constable Khadka.

Crime Investigation Bureau had earlier arrested SSP Khatri in connection with 34 kilograms gold case smuggled from Dubai on February 5, 2017. Later, he was released on  Rs 200,000 bail.

Modus Operandi

RPP leader Bhujung Gurung, who says he has been involved in gold smuggling for over 30 years, confessed to police that gold was being smuggled into Kathmandu through the TIA since the Panchayat era.

According to Bhujung, he joined hands with members of the Gore gang, considered new entrants to the business, in 2013. The 64-year-old politician, along with Gore, used to bring two to four kg of gold from Bangkok to Kathmandu by hiding the metal it in the restroom of Thai Airways planes. Gore, according to Bhujung, also brought gold via Dubai–he had similar arrangements with staffers of other airlines.

Bhujung told police: “To buy the gold, we collected money in dollars from Nepalis in Hong Kong and handed over money in Nepali currency to their kin living in Nepal. We used the dollars to buy gold and sell them in Nepal. We used to get gold four-ten times a month.”

As gold is expensive in Nepal due to the various restrictions put on by the government, smugglers can make quick money by selling gold brought in without paying taxes. Bhujung said that he would sell the gold to Mohan Kumar Agrawal alias MK, and Pawan Agrawal, among others.

In the 33.5-kilogram gold smuggling case, mules Sanu Ban and Punya Prasad Lama Tamang were supposed to hand over the smuggled gold to Gore at his office in Kathmandu’s Anamnagar. But, the gold was ‘robbed’ by unknown people. Bhujung was also to get a cut from the sales of the gold.

“MK pressed us to find the gold, and we put pressure on Gore to do it at any cost, even if it meant killing a few people. We had come to the conclusion that if we could not find the gold, we would recover the money from Thai Airways officials,” he told police.

Meanwhile, of the seven police personnel arrested in connection with the case, constable Bishnu Bahadur Khadka confessed to investigators about his involvement. He told police that high-level TIA officials also helped smuggle the gold.

Khadka, who worked as a driver for SSP Shyam Bahadur Khatri, said smuggled gold was transported using his vehicle and handed over to the smugglers. Khadka confessed to handing over the gold to smuggler Mohan Kafle aka Darhiwal as directed by SSP Khatri.

Kafle first received Rs 5,000, later Rs 10,000 for transporting the smuggled precious metal.

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