The Patan High Court has remanded six people who were arrested in connection with the smuggling of nearly 100 kg of gold that was recently seized from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to custody for 10 days.
According to Mandira Shahi, deputy registrar at the Patan High Court, the accused were produced before the court on Thursday and the court gave the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) permission to keep them in custody for 10 days for investigation purposes.
The six accused are taxi driver Ashok Lama, customs agent Rajendra Kumar Rai, Ready Trade Pvt Ltd promoter Dilip Bhujel, Harka Raj Rai, Thapten Tsering and Ram Kumar Bhujel.
A Chinese national, Lin Zeqiang, has also been arrested in connection with the gold smuggling scam. He was arrested from the TIA on Wednesday when he was about to fly to China.
The DRI recovered a huge quantity of 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.
