The Patan High Court has granted 10 days to the Revenue Investigation Department to probe the involvement of six individuals arrested for smuggling approximately 100 kg of gold.
The accused individuals connected to the smuggling were presented before the court on Thursday.
In connection with the gold smuggling, a Chinese national named Jeyung Lyn was apprehended at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), bringing the total number of arrestees in this case to nine. The Superintendent of Police at TIA, Padam Bahadur Bista, informed about Lyn’s arrest while attempting to fly to China via Tibetan Airlines. Lyn has been handed over to the Revenue Investigation Department for further proceedings.
The smugglers were attempting to escape the TIA customs and were using a cab with registration number Ba 2 Ja 2324.
The Department arrested four other individuals on the night before this incident. It was revealed that the valuables were brought under the name of Ready Trade from Hong Kong, and the proprietor of this company has also been arrested.
The list of those arrested includes Dilip Bhujel, 21, originally from Dolakha’s Melung Rural Municipality-3 and currently residing in Sankhu, Kathmandu, along with Ram Kumar Bhujel, 53, from the same address and presently living in Swayambhu, Kathmandu. Additionally, Harka Raj Rai, 49, originally from Bhojpur Arun Rural Municipality-4 and currently residing in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, a customs agent named Rajendra Rai, and taxi driver Ashok Lama have all been apprehended.
Thapten Chhiring, 49, an Indian citizen originally from Old Delhi and presently residing in Panipokhari, Kathmandu, and a Chinese citizen identified as Lingchuan are also accused in connection with this case.
The other two accused are the operators of cargo companies; Puskar Bhatta, proprietor of Trans Global Service, and Rajan Shrestha, proprietor of Alice Trans Group. The DRI team arrested them when they visited the TIA customs office to collect the goods sent by their client using courier services.