Interpol has issued a diffusion notice against Amala Roka, who is a fugitive in the 60 kg gold smuggling case.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had requested the Interpol section at the Nepal Police Headquarters for a diffusion notice against Roka. Interpol subsequently issued the diffusion notice on February 5.
CIB Spokesperson and Superintendent of Police Nawaraj Adhikari told Setopati that Interpol issued the diffusion notice against Roka on CIB’s request.
Roka is the promoter of Hotel Vienna in Thamel, Kathmandu. Her husband Dawa Tsering, a Belgian national, is in prison.
On July 18 last year, a team from the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) had confiscated a huge quantity of gold hidden inside brake shoes of scooters during a cargo inspection after it has passed undetected through customs at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu. The total weight of the gold was later found to be 60.716 kilograms.
The DRI had initially investigated the accused under the Revenue Leakage (Investigation and Control) Act, while the CIB investigated them under the Customs Act and organized crime after taking charge of the case.
Dawa Tsering was arrested by the DRI, but Roka is still on the run.
The CIB had concluded that the racket that smuggled 60 kilograms of gold had smuggled a total of 362 kilograms of gold. Police say that the same group had also smuggled 9 kg of gold disguised as e-cigarettes.
Police had arrested 26 people in connection with the gold smuggling and filed a case against them. The Kathmandu District Court had remanded 25 of them to custody on October 6 last year.
Dawa Tsering and other accused had filed an application at the Patan High Court against the district court’s order. The high court had then released six of the accused on bail and ordered 12 others including Tsering to be kept in custody.
