CPN (Maoist Center) Vice-chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara has claimed that he has no links with gold smugglers.
Talking to journalists in Ghorahi of Dang on Tuesday, Mahara said that false rumors were spread against him in media in connection with the gold smuggling case.
He said that the media was linking him to the gold smuggling case for no reason, adding that it was not right to spread such false rumors.
Mahara said that he knew Chinese national Wang, one of the suspects in the gold smuggling case, only as a fruit trader and had never talked to him about gold on the phone.
However, he conceded that Wang had once visited him and requested him get a friend’s e-cigarettes cleared by the customs.
According to Mahara, he had then talked to customs staff and only requested them to do the needful according to the law.
“I did not know what was in those electronic cigarettes,” he said. “I also didn’t know that he was a gold smuggler.”
Mahara said that he was ready to help the state in the gold smuggling case if he is under suspicion.
“I have said before that I will cooperate with the investigation,” he said. “I have also asked to be called for investigation, but nobody has called me until now.”
He requested the media to not spread false rumors about him.
“I am ready to help the government with any investigation,” he said. “What else should I do?”
