Businessman Deepak Malhotra has said that he did not bring the gold that was seized from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Organizing a press conference in Kathmandu on Thursday afternoon, Malhotra said that he had no connection with the confiscated gold.
According to a news report, the nearly 100 kg of gold recovered on Tuesday belonged to businessman Malhotra.
Malhotra said that the news report included his picture, adding that he was not even contacted about it.
He objected to the news report and said that he would send a refutation.
“I will seek legal remedy against that media if it does not publish the refutation,” he said.
Malhotra said that he was not involved in any illegal business and had not even thought about it.
“I am ready to face legal punishment if my involvement is established,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Customs (DoC) has formed a probe committee to investigate the incident after such a huge quantity of gold that had passed undetected through the airport customs was recovered from a taxi.
According to Punya Bikram Khadka, director and information officer of the DoC, they have formed a committee headed by Man Bahadur Paudel, director of the DoC’s investigation section.
Khadka said that the committee will investigate the involvement of the customs officer and other staffers in allowing the gold to pass through the airport customs. It will also check the airport’s CCTV footage.
The DoC is preparing to suspend the staff involved in the customs check at the airport. Khadka said that they will proceed accordingly if the investigation reveals involvement of others in the case too.
The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has arrested six persons including an agent in connection with the scam so far.
According to Nawa Raj Dhungana, director general of the DRI, they are searching for those involved and named in the scam.
The DRI recovered the gold during inspection of cargo outside the TIA Customs Office on Tuesday. A total of 160 pieces of gold were recovered, according to customs sources.
But the DRI has stated that the exact quantity of gold has yet to be ascertained and estimated that it could be anything from 80-100 kilograms. “It is estimated to be 80-100 kilograms considering other goods connected to that. Additional investigations continue,” Dhungana told Setopati.
The DRI recovered the gold after being tipped off about the new style of gold smuggling. The gold was brought hidden inside brake shoes used in scooters in a way that even the X-ray machine inside the TIA would not detect it.
The gold was brought on a Cathay Pacific flight coming from Hong Kong, according to Dhungana.
The gold has been sent to the Nepal Rastra Bank to determine the actual quantity.
