Police launch investigation into murder, 33 kg gold smuggling

Suspects claim cops trying to let main perpetrators free

Kathmandu, March 22

Nepal Police has formed a four-member probe panel led by DIG Puskal Raj Regmi to investigate into the March 2 murder of an alleged carrier of smuggled gold in Morang district and the disappearance of 33 kg precious yellow metal.

A source at Nepal Police said the panel includes SSP Basanta Lama, DSP Sudip Pathak and Inspector Bishma Humagain as members. NP Headquarters treated this incident seriously on suspicion that some police personnel could have a hand in the disappearance of the gold allegedly being smuggled from China via land route.

Sanam Shakya was murdered by the members of the same smuggling racket in Pokhariya of Morang on March 2 for ‘involvement in the disappearance of the gold’.

A team deployed from Metropolitan Police Crime Division had arrested three persons while transporting Shakya’s body to a nearby forest for disposal. The suspects are Narendra Karki, Tekraj Malla and Mohan Kafle.

The source said the probe panel was formed after the suspects claimed that ‘some police officers were trying to let the main perpetrators of the gold smuggling and the murder of Shakya go free by not bringing out the truth’. The arrest of only three persons allegedly involved in the murder of Shakya and no progress on probe into the disappearance of 33 kg gold also necessitated further investigation, he informed.

Similarly, the panel will also investigate into the March 4 murder of a jeweller Sajan Mukhiya in Birtamod which officials said could have link with the killing of Shakya and the gold smuggling.