Kathmandu, January 24

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police today said it was committed to bringing to book any person or institution directly or indirectly involved in the recent smuggling of 33 kg gold.

“An investigation is under way and CIB will not spare anyone involved in the crime, no matter who they are,” a press statement issued by CIB said today. It also expressed dismay at criticism that the law enforcement agency did not muster courage to arrest big shots involved in the case.

According to CIB, it has so far arrested seven persons, including three customs officials, who are suspected of involvement in the crime. It has already established that some customs assisted the smugglers in crossing the checkpoint at the Tribhuvan International Airport with gold on January 5.

Police have openly spoken about alleged nexus between customs officials and gold smugglers, and the CIB is quizzing them to establish their nexus with the criminal racket after Gopal Bahadur Shahi, who carried the gold to Kathmandu from Dubai, revealed that the customs officials had assisted him in crossing the TIA with over 200 kg gold ‘without any screening’ in the past one year.

Shahi, one of the three arrestees, also claimed that his ‘boss’ had a good rapport with customs officials. Passport history of Shahi shows that he had shuttled between Kathmandu and Dubai eight times over a period of two months. Meanwhile, an official at the CIB said Shahi had been working with more than 13 other ‘gold carriers’ and was their mobilisers on behalf of the smuggling racket.

Though CIB officials arrested gold carriers and some on-duty customs officials they are yet to crack its top layer.

This was the second biggest seizure of illegal gold after July 10, 2013 when CIB had arrested three persons with 35 kilograms of hallmark gold from Koteshwor. The gold was being smuggled to Kathmandu from China via Tatopani Customs Point.