KATHMANDU, AUGUST 12

Police arrested one more person suspected of involvement in the smuggling of 100 kg gold through Tribhuvan International Airport, today.

A prime suspect in the gold smuggling racket, Rohan Adukia, son of businessman Rakesh Kumar Adukia was nabbed today by Immigration Department at TIA when he returned from India today.

Rohan Adukiya, who was travelling with Indian passport, landed in Kathmandu via Air Indigo flight No 6E1153 at 1:00pm today. He was returning from Delhi and was detained during immigration check.

According to immigration department, he has been handed over to the DRI. The Department of Revenue Investigation had asked the Immigration Department to blacklist Rohan.

A few days ago, the house of businessman Rakesh Adukia was raided in connection with the gold smuggling racket. He was on the run since he got to know about the incident.

With this, the number of people arrested in the gold smuggling racket has reached 21. One of them has been released on bail.

Customs agent Rukmina Subba was released on bail due to health complications.

The department recently arrested Belgian citizen Dawa Chiring on July 30. Before that Surendra Tamang alias Naresh was arrested on July 26.

Those arrested are customs officer Santosh Chand, Kumar Dhakal and X-ray operator Saroj Shrestha. They were suspended by the Customs Department for negligence in their work. Later they were arrested by the DRI.

Similarly, customs agents Yadavshankar Parajuli, Sudarshan Gautam, Global Pvt Ltd owner Pushkarraj Bhatt, Krishna Shrestha, Rajan Shrestha, taxi driver Ashok Lama, customs agent Rajendra Rai, Ready Trade Pvt Ltd owner Dilip Bhujel, and his uncle Ramkumar Bhujel, Harkraj Rai, Indian citizen Thapten Chiring and a Chinese national were arrested.

The DRI on July 18 confiscated the gold that was concealed inside motorcycle brake shoes from Sinamangal. The consignment was being transported in a taxi after getting customs clearance from TIA.

The total weight of the smuggled gold was found to be 155 kg, including gold hidden in electric shavers, stated officials at Nepal Rastra Bank, which has been entrusted with examining the metal.

However, the actual quantity of the yellow metal is yet to be measured by the DRI. This is one of the biggest gold hauls till date.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 12, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.