Kathmandu, December 24
The team, headed by Customs Officer Mani Ram Paudel, tasked with probing the gold smuggling case, encountered a setback as they were unable to obtain the requested CCTV footage for their investigation.
While conducting the inquiry, the committee sought the CCTV records for the last three months leading up to the airport arrivals. However, Paudel, serving as the committee’s coordinator, revealed that only 21 days of records were available due to limitations in the backup system.
On November 8, Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office arrested Chandra Ghaley, who arrived from Dubai carrying 14 kilograms of gold. Subsequently, following Chandra Ghaley’s statement, Meen Bahadur Ghaley of Gorkha was also arrested. In response to the unfolding events, Chief Customs Administrator Tokaraj Pandey promptly established a committee led by Paudel to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office arrested Chandra Ghale who came from Dubai with 14 kilograms of gold on November 8. Based on his statement, Meen Bahadur Ghale of Gorkha was also arrested. Soon after, Chief Customs Administrator Tokaraj Pandey formed a committee led by Paudel to investigate it.
The investigation team had also asked for the CCTV footage of the staircase leading to the VIP room of the airport. However, the investigation committee has been informed that the CCTV camera on that section is out of service.
The toilet of the VIP room has been a point of interest for the committee as Lek Bahadur Tamang, who was also arrested smuggling gold said he handed over the gold to Radhakrishna Shrestha in the toilet.
The investigation committee has asked for an investigation to be carried out as to why the CCTV camera there was not working.
According to Chief Customs Administrator Tokraj Pandey, 14 kilograms of gold was sent to Min Bahadur by a person named Ankit Agarwal from Dubai. Pandey said Min Bahadur Ghaley, Chandra Ghaley and Krishna Kumar Shrestha have repeatedly brought gold to Nepal from Dubai. Pandey said they have used to VIP room multiple times.
Customs officials have identified individuals allegedly involved in the gold smuggling operation at the airport. Pandey said mechanic Radha Krishna Shrestha, office assistant Lek Bahadur Tamang, retired contract worker Ramesh Deula, branch assistant Anil Shrestha, and plumber Sher Bahadur Basnet were involved in the gold smuggling case.
Officials say that after taking out the gold brought by the carrier, Ramesh Deula, Radha Krishna Shrestha and Anil Shrestha took it to DB Gurung’s house at Suryadarshan Heights. Following that, the gold was then taken to a location specified by Ankit Agrawal.
“This group has smuggled gold multiple times. Based on our investigations, around 138 kilograms of gold have been smuggled into Nepal by this group alone,” said Paudel.
