KATHMANDU: A man has been arrested in possession of 10 kg gold allegedly being smuggled to the Capital from Jhapa of eastern Nepal.

The confiscated gold costs around Rs 49.5 million as per the current market rate.

Sonam Gurung of Lalitpur was arrested from the Bhadrapur Airport in Jhapa this afternoon, the Rastriya Samarchar Samiti (RSS) reported.

Gurung was about to board a Buddha Air flight to Kathmandu.

He had hidden the precious yellow metal inside his shoes, according to the RSS.

SSP Pushkal Raj Regmi said this is the first time police in Jhapa district seized such a huge amount of gold.

Police have suspected that Gurung might have been deployed by Indian smugglers as a porter.