The Inquiry Commission on gold smuggling has recommended action against 12 individuals including CPN (Maoist Center) Vice-chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
The Inquiry Commission, which submitted its report to Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Thursday, has recommended action against those individuals for their involvement in gold smuggling.
The 12 persons include Mahara, Chinese promoter of Casino Waldo Dynasty at Chhaya Center, Thamel Terence THC, foreign affairs expert with the then vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun’s secretariat Jeevan Gurung, promoter of Bidh Lab Bhim Kanta Bhandari, Jeevan Chalaune, and promoter of Hotel Vienna Manjil Shrestha.
The commission has also recommended departmental action against Chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police Kiran Bajracharya, SP Sanjay Singh Thapa, and DSPs Durga Dahal and Rugam Kunwar.
It has also called for departmental action against Basu Dev Sharma and Janak Raj Ghimire with the District Government Attorney Office, Kathmandu.
Mahara and his son Rahul came under investigation after police found that they were in contact with those involved in bringing gold disguised as e-cigarettes.
In its investigation report on the 9 kg gold smuggling case submitted to the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had included a link chart which also showed that Mahara was in contact with Daojin Wang, the alleged mastermind behind the gold smuggling.
Lamichhane submitted the commission’s report to Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal earlier on Friday. PM Dahal gave permission to Home Minister Lamichhane to move ahead in the case, according to PM Dahal’s secretariat.
The commission led by Dilli Raj Acharya submitted the 485-page report after investigating into the 60 kilograms of gold smuggled in disguise of brake shoes and nine kilograms as e-cigarettes.
It also conducted field inspection of seven different customs points including the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and the Rasuwagadhi border point. It again collected statements of 33 charged in the two cases of gold smuggling.
