Gore, two others brought to Kathmandu for investigation

KATHMANDU, June 11: The main accused of 33.5 kilogram gold smuggling scam and subsequent murder of carrier Sanam Shakya, Chudamani Uprety aka Gore, Chiring Bangdel Ghale and Bhujung Gurung have been brought to Kathmandu from Biratnagar for further investigation.

The accused were brought to the capital on Monday morning after the Morang District Court sent the case to the Department of Money Laundering on Sunday. The main suspects of the gold scam will now face additional money laundering charge.

Investigation will start today itself, according to communication officer at the department Binod Lamichhane.

On the second week of January this year, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police confiscated 33.5 kg gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) which had passed undetected from the customs. But the gold, which was being smuggled into Nepal from the United Arab Emirates, mysteriously disappeared before reaching its owner.

The gold scam came to the fore after the police recovered the body of mule Shakya of Urlabari, in Biratnager in March, wrapped in a towel along with a mattress and tarpaulin in a Scorpio jeep with a number place Ba 12 Cha 5963.

The probe committee has concluded that the gang of Gore smuggled 3,799.559 kilograms of gold in the past five years.

Morang District Attorney Office has filed a charge sheet against 63 suspects, seeking to recover Rs17 billion and an additional Rs18 million in fine from the accused. Twenty-eight accused in the case have already been sent to judicial prison as their trial progresses while three others were released on general date. The others are still absconding.