The Kathmandu District Court has ordered the release of Amala Roka Magar on a bail of Rs 200,00 in the 60 kg gold smuggling case.
On Monday, a bench of Judge Balaram Lamsal ordered her release on bail.
Roka has already submitted the bail amount, but she has not been released yet.
Superintendent of Police Yuvaraj Khadka, spokesperson for the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police, said that she was handed over to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DMLI) after receiving a letter from the department.
"A bail of Rs 200,000 was demanded. She has submitted the bail amount. We have now sent her to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation," he said.
The CIB arrested Roka on Friday from Tokha of Kathmandu in connection with the gold smuggling case.
Roka, who had been on the run for over a year and a half, was presented before the court on Sunday.
Judge Lamsal granted her bail after the bail hearing concluded on Monday.
Roka is the wife of Belgian national Dawa Tsering, who is currently in judicial custody in connection with the same gold smuggling case.
Roka was found to have close ties with Maoist leaders. Reports had surfaced about her connections with Maoist leaders Barshaman Pun and Nanda Kishor Pun. A photo of her having dinner with Barshaman Pun had also gained attention.
However, they had maintained that apart from family relations, they had no connection with her.
Roka also used to operate Vienna Hotel in Thamel. Police had repeatedly raided the hotel during the investigation into the gold smuggling case.
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 DRI initially investigated the case, the CIB later took over the investigation and filed the case.
Dawa Tsering was arrested by a team from the DRI on July 30, 2023. However, his wife Roka had already fled by that time.
