World News | Nepal's Former Speaker Arrested for Alleged Involvement in Gold Smuggling Case
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a former Speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives and a senior member of the ruling party, was arrested on Monday and sent to four-day custody by a court here to probe his alleged involvement in a major gold smuggling case.
Kathmandu, Mar 18 (PTI) Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a former Speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives and a senior member of the ruling party, was arrested on Monday and sent to four-day custody by a court here to probe his alleged involvement in a major gold smuggling case.
Mahara, vice-president of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), was arrested from Pakadi of Kapilvastu district earlier in the day and brought to the capital from the Bhairahawa airport.
Kathmandu District Court Judge Durga Prasad Khanal approved the request made by the police for remanding Mahara in custody for investigation into involvement in a gold smuggling scam.
An inquiry commission in its report found that he was involved in the smuggling of 60 kg of gold hidden inside a motorcycle brake shoes in 2023 and 9 kg of gold concealed inside electronic cigarettes in December 2022.
Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday had ordered police to implement a report of the inquiry commission on large-scale gold smuggling that pointed to Mahara's “involvement” in the case, the report said.
The commission, headed by a former High Court chief judge that submitted its report on Thursday, accused the CIB of making deliberate efforts not to investigate Mahara and former Nepal Police chief and Communist Part of Nepal (UML) leader Sarbendra Khanal in the gold scam.
After receiving the report, Home Minister Lamichhane submitted it to Prime Minister Prachanda following which the Cabinet on Friday decided to implement the recommendations of the inquiry commission.
The commission submitted its report after studying the lapses in police investigation into the smuggling of 60 kg of gold, which was hidden inside motorcycle brake shoes last year, and 9 kg of gold concealed inside e-cigarettes in December 2022, the report said.
In October last year, the District Attorney's Office filed a case against Mahara's son Rahul for his suspected role in smuggling 9 kg of gold.
Rahul was arrested on August 30 last year. According to a government report, the father-son duo had been in regular touch with Chinese gold smugglers, the report said.
Last week, the Nepal police arrested the son of former Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun in connection with a major gold smuggling scam.
In September last year, the CIB interrogated Dipesh Pun in connection with the smuggling of 60.716 kg of gold, which was seized soon after it passed undetected from Tribhuvan International Airport customs office in Kathmandu in July 2023.
A special team of Nepal Police arrested Dipesh Pun on March 15 from his residence at Dhapasi on the outskirts of Kathmandu, according to police spokesperson, Bhim Prasad Dhakal.
Dipesh, the general secretary of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary) — the student wing of the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) — has close connections with Dawa Chhiring, the main suspect in the gold smuggling case.
Chhiring is currently under detention for investigation purposes.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)