KATHMANDU, March 26: Police have arrested a person along with a collection of gold jewelries on Tuesday night.
According to the District Police Range (DPR), Kathmandu, the arrested individual has been identified as Dipesh Lal, 41, from Bidur Municipality-5, Nuwakot, currently residing at Kalanki, Kathmandu Metropolitan City-14.
Spokesperson of the DPR Superintendent of Police (SP) Apil Raj Bohara told Republica that the police arrested the individual at around 8:30 pm after a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Uddhab Singh Bhat while they were patrolling the premises of the world heritage site Swoyanbhunath.
Makwanpur police arrest one with illegal gold worth Rs 5.4 mill...
“The team led by DSP Bhat were on a regular patrol when they spotted Lal carrying a bag,” SP Bohara said, “Lal invited the arrest as the team found it suspicious when he attempted to run away from them even before he was checked.”
Upon checking his bag, police found gold jewelries including 11 pieces of necklaces with beads, seven pieces of single bead necklaces, 13 pieces of necklaces with crystals, six pieces of Mangalsutra with beads, one piece of Soli bead necklace, three pairs of earrings with stones, one piece of Tilhari without beads, nine pieces of clips with different designs, three bead necklaces with stones that resemble pearls, one pearl necklace with a pendant, one pearl necklace with stones, 24 pieces of gold rings made, 19 pieces of small earrings with stones and three pieces of small gold beads.
According to DSP Bhat, the recovered gold weighs around 93 grams (eight tolas) which means that they are worth well over Rs 1.3 million at the current market rate.
SP Bohara informed Republica that the police understood that the gold was smuggled illegally into Nepal and there is a larger nexus involved in the operation. However, when Lal was interrogated by the police he attempted to create a confusion by narrating conflicting accounts of how he got the gold in the first place.
DSP Bhat revealed that Lal confessed that he received the gold from a jewellery shop in New Road but refused to disclose the location or name of the jewellery shop claiming that doing so would place his life in danger.
According to the DPR, Lal has been taken into custody and sent to the Revenue Investigation Department, Lalitpur, for further investigation and legal proceedings.