Nepal Govt refuses to form parliamentary panel to probe gold smuggling case

Kathmandu [Nepal], August 3 : Nepal Government on Thursday rejected the demands of the main opposition, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) to form a parliamentary committee to probe the 100 kg gold smuggling case.
Nepal Government spokesperson Rekha Sharma said that there is no need to form a high-level probe committee to investigate the matter despite continued protests by CPN-UML.
“The Department of Revenue Investigation has the right to conduct the investigation and it is undertaking the investigations and has made the commitment to reach the root cause of the smuggling. At this time forming another committee to investigate the matter would divert the issue and impact the investigation,” Rekha Sharma said in a media briefing on Thursday.
Earlier, CPN-UML and some members of the ruling Nepali Congress cornered the government in Parliament on Wednesday demanding a credible probe into the smuggling of gold in huge quantities and the resignation of Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha to ensure a fair investigation.
“Creating another committee now with a varied approach would impact the (ongoing) investigation and might delay the arrest of those behind it. The government firmly believes it. Dialogues have continued over the issue, I think it would be resolved in a few days and the deadlock in parliament would end soon,” Sharma, who is also the Minister of Communications and Information Technology added.
Earlier in the day, the meeting of the National Assembly also got adjourned following obstruction by the opposition CPN-UML.
The opposition who have been disrupting the meeting of the lower house- the House of Representatives on Thursday also resorted to protest demanding of forming a high-level committee to investigate the gold smuggling case in the National Assembly.
At the beginning of today’s meeting, UML lawmaker Bhairab Sundar Shrestha demanded the formation of a high-level probe committee to investigate in recent gold smuggling case.
Claiming political intervention and wrangling to influence the investigation, the opposition lawmaker in the Upper house demanded the committee be formed early.
“The opposition CPN-UML will not sit on the side overlooking all these aspects. We also have been on and off the ruling side in both the parliament. An investigation committee must be formed to investigate all the aspects in this case; until and unless the committee is formed to bring those accountable under the jurisdiction of the government the schedule of the house wouldn’t proceed further,” Shrestha said.
After a protest by the opposition, National Assembly Chair, Ganesh Prasad Timilsina requested the lawmakers to allow the upper House to run its business, adding that it is aware of the issue.
Chair Timilsina postponed today’s meeting to 1:01 pm on August 7 after UML continued its protest despite his repeated request. On Tuesday, the meeting of the House of Representatives was postponed to August 7.
The meeting was adjourned after lawmakers from the main opposition party CPN-UML took a stand to obstruct House proceedings until a high-level investigation committee is formed to probe the gold smuggling case.
Nepal’s Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) on July 19 seized about 100 Kilograms of gold hidden inside the “break shoe”- a spare part of a motorcycle and scooter, from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu.
The DRI also got the hold of gold after it passed through the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
When the gold was brought to Nepal from Hong Kong, it was written ‘lead without battery’ in the manifest and ‘break shoe’ in other documents. The investigating authority has asked Hong Kong Customs about the security lapses that occurred on their side.
While the authorities await the reply from Hong Kong Customs from where it was couriered to Nepal, the DRI also has suspected that earlier packages that landed in Nepal were imported by Ready Trade Pvt. Ltd also contained precious yellow metal.
As per the record from the Customs Department of Nepal, the company previously also imported a similar consignment multiple times before it was seized on 19th July 2023. As per the data, consignments weighing at least 1997 Kilograms were imported from Hong Kong on different dates prior to July, 19.
During a raid on 26th July at the Ready Trade’s warehouse in the capital Kathmandu, the DRI seized 66 boxes of the same items. Upon examination the officials didn’t find the gold in any of the “brake shoes” but they suspect tampering of the boxes.
The investigating body- the Department of Revenue Investigation till 3rd August has arrested 18 people connected to the gold smuggling but the beneficiary owner of the gold still remains at large. DRI has arrested the owner of Ready Trade named as Dilip Bhujel (21) who is reported to be just a daily wage worker hailing from an impoverished region of Dolakha.
The DRI, on July 19, managed to confiscate the gold concealed in motorcycle/scooter brake shoes from the gate of Customs of Tribhuvan International Airport as it was being taken out in a taxi.
The gross weight of the smuggled gold was ascertained to be 155 kilograms, which also included electric shavers, according to officials at the mint division of the Nepal Rastra Bank, which has been entrusted with examining the metal. The DRI is yet to ask the central bank to melt the mix to determine the exact weight of the gold component.