Biratnagar, June 3

Another prime accused in the infamous 33 kg gold smuggling case and the murder of Sanam Shakya, Tsering Wangel Ghale alias Dr David turned himself into Morang  District Court today. Wangel was remanded to judicial custody after recording his statement today itself.

Kedar Prasad Gautam, a staff at the district court, said that a single bench of district judge Narayan Prasad Sharma had issued a directive sending Ghale to judicial custody. According to Gautam, Ghale was remanded to custody as he could not be freed on the basis of evidence collected so far.

Following the court diktat, Ghale was sent to Morang District Prison.

Police suspect Bhujung Gurung’s brother-in-law Ghale and his group stole the missing 33 kg gold on January 23. Earlier, in his statement to the court, the main accused Chudamani Upreti alias Gore, said that he had worked as Ghale’s carrier. Senior advocate Bishwo Bhattarai and lawyer Saroj Adhikari had pleaded on behalf of Ghale at the court.

Government attorney Punya Prasad Pathak had spoken on behalf of the prosecution.

In his statement to the court, Ghale denied the accusation levelled against him. In his ten-page long statement, Ghale said that his name was wrongly used. He said that he had given Rs 11.6 million to Bhujung to invest in a hydropower company.

Later, there was a dispute between him and Bhujung over the money. Ghale said that he was involved in real estate business and did not know many of the accused in the gold smuggling case.

Earlier, suspended SSP Shyam Bahadur Khatri had appeared before the district court and given his statement. Khatri too has been remanded to judicial custody.

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• Gold smuggling prime accused, Ghale, denies involvement