KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 17
A lawsuit has been filed in Kathmandu District Court against 29 people over involvement in the 61 kilograms gold smuggling racket.
District Government Attorney's Office Kathmandu registered case against 29 people, including three fugitives, today.
"A case has been registered against 29 people, including three fugitives," according to information officer Mahesh Prasad Khatri, District Public Prosecutor's Office, Kathmandu.
While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) prepared a report to prosecute four people on the list of fugitives, government prosecutor has decided not to prosecute a Chinese citizen immediately.
The CIB also decided not to prosecute Rukmina Subba, while other customs agents and employees will be prosecuted.
Of those arrested, the CIB recommended that taxi driver Ashok Lama, cargo agent Rajan Shrestha, customs agent Rukmina Subba, and Surendra Tamang, who helped the scammer find apartments, and two employees at the customs office of Tribhuvan International Airport Sridhar Tandan and Kamal Pariyar not be prosecuted.
The CIB has also instructed the police to conduct further investigation in the case of Gombo, a Chinese national.
The CIB has decided to prosecute Gombo as well, but as he is absconding and there will be a problem in meeting the deadline, it has instructed the police to investigate him further and decided not to prosecute him immediately.
Among those who have been sued, a case has been registered against Yao Pucheng, a Chinese citizen named Alex, as the mastermind behind the smuggling racket.
Prior to this, the CIB also recommended demanding principal amount of Rs 3.50 billion from the defendants. The CIB fixed the amount, after its investigation proved that the racketeers, spearheaded mostly by Chinese kingpins, had smuggled additional 302 kilograms of gold in the same manner as the 61 kilograms gold was smuggled into the country.
The amount was fixed as per the market price of the gold that was smuggled into the country.
The CIB concluded that Chinese racketeers in coordination with Nepali people used to smuggle gold concealed inside brake shoes of motorbikes.
For that, they had formed seven companies that would smuggle gold from China and then refine it in two workshops in Kathmandu.
The owners and companies that smuggled the gold are Lekhnath Karki of Chhungak Electric Suppliers, Ram Kumar Bhujel of Bhujel Electric Suppliers, Kumar Bahadur Bhujel of Hwada Electric Suppliers, Ram Bahadur Bhujel of Pawati Electrica Suppliers, Bikundra Bhujel of Dolakha Electric Suppliers, Dilip Bhujel of Reddy Trade and Sarita Tamang of Sarita Suppliers. All the gold smuggled through these companies would be taken to Lazimpat and Tokha based workshops for extraction.
The CIB has also suggested that the accused be prosecuted for offences under several sections of seven Acts including Section 57 (1) (d) of 1 (b) of Customs Act 2007, Prevention of Organised Crime Act 2013; Section 95 of Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2002, Section 43 of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017; Nepal Citizenship Act 2006, Passport Act 2019 and Immigration Act 1992.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 18, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
