The Kathmandu District Court has issued a notice for 19 absconding defendants in the 60 kg gold smuggling case to appear within 35 days.
On Monday, the court issued a 35-day notice, stating that arrest warrants were issued for 19 individuals but they had not yet appeared for the case hearings.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had filed a case on September 17, 2023, naming 29 defendants for offenses including illegal gold smuggling, organized crime, violations of the Citizenship Act, Passport Act, Nepal Rastra Bank Act, Payment and Settlement Act, citizenship forgery, and arms and ammunition-related crimes. Initially, some individuals were not named as defendants saying their addresses were not known.
In the second phase of the investigation, the CIB filed a case against 46 individuals on July 2, 2024, at the District Court. Only 20 were arrested at the time while 26 were absconding.
The court’s information officer Deepak Kumar Shrestha said that a notice was published in the Gorkhapatra daily after 19 individuals went missing.
“They could not be found even after police searches, they could not be found. When they fail to appear in court during hearings, they are declared absconding. Then the court publishes a notice in a daily newspaper,” Shrestha said.
The court decided on May 25 to publish the notice for arrest warrants, as the 19 individuals remained untraceable. The notice instructs them to appear in court within 35 days, excluding the date of publication.
“It means if they do not appear within this period, the court will proceed with the verdict process. The case will move forward for others without waiting for them, and decisions regarding the absconding individuals will be made later,” Shrestha added.
Among those with arrest warrants, six are Chinese citizens: Luorong Gongbu, Wang Daojin, Peng Yongxin, Zhong Jianhua, Zhong Jingchuan (alias Henerry), and Ping Lingfeng.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for Nepali citizens including Ram Gurung of Sindhupalchowk, Lekhnath Karki Doli of Jhapa, Kumar Bhujel and Bikendra Bhujel of Dolakha, and Jeevan Kumar Gurung of Parbat.
Indian citizens Abhijit Tanaji Mulik, Agol Kalappa Kute (alias Mahi), and Kamalkant Kulthia also face arrest warrants.
Additionally, the court has published notices for Palsang Lama of Kavre, Jeevan Chalaune of Bardiya, Dilip Bhujel of Dolakha, Bhim Bahadur Magar of Udayapur, and Tashi Sherpa of India to appear within 35 days.
On July 18, 2023, a team from the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI), following a tip-off, had confiscated a huge quantity of gold hidden inside brake shoes of scooters during a cargo inspection after it had passed undetected through customs at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.
The gold was brought on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Hong Kong.
The total quantity of the confiscated gold was later found to be 60.716 kilograms.
The brake shoes were imported by Ready Trade Pvt Ltd, registered in the name of Dilip Bhujel. It was found that gold was being smuggled from China inside various goods by setting up various fake companies.
Although the Department of Revenue Investigation initially investigated the case, the CIB later took over the investigation and filed the case.
