Following a ´special´ tip-off, a team led by Police Inspector Manil Mukarung found the vases, believed to be carved out of the elephant tusks, from two locations in Kathmandu.
According to SSP Bijaya Lal Kayastha, Chief of MPCD, the artistic vases were brought to Kathmandu about three months ago, and the group was in search of potential buyer who could pay them handsome amount. [break]
According to the police, Rinchin Lama, 45, a Tibetan who has been operating Curio business at Bouddha for the last 15 years, had sold the vases to Ram Sharan Khatiwada, 37, from Khadkavanjyang VDC-6 of Nuwakot, for Rs 4,00,000 about two months ago.
Khatiwada, who is also a curio entrepreneur, had kept one of the vases at the residence of Surendra Lal Shrestha aka Sundar, 37, at Maatatirtha, and another in his shop at Naikap.
“Following the tip-off, we visited Shrestha´s residence and the shop in the guise of customers and after we found the vases we arrested those behind the smuggling,” Inspector Mukarung said. The police in the guise of customers had told them that a Chinese businessman was interested in buying the vases.
After ´the deal´ the police team returned in the pretext of bringing some cash as an advance payment, he said.
The other arrested are Ram Kumar Shrestha, 32, a driver from Maatatirtha-5, Pashupati Belbashe, 39, a teacher from Thada, Arghakhanchi, Narayan Khadgi, 49, a garage operator from Bagbazaar and Jyoti Jungam, 37, a water jar distributor from Taumadhi VDC-12, Bhaktapur.
The four were helping the curio operators to find them customers on the commission basis.
The police have claimed that the two identical vases, 5 feet and 3 inches tall, are made of elephant tusks.
“According to the preliminary investigations, the vases were smuggled from Tibet, China,” said SSP Kayastha. “But we are still trying to find more details behind the smuggling. An expert from the Department of Forest has identified the vases was made of elephant tusks but we are again doing a forensic test.”
However Lama, the seller of the vases, has claimed that the vases were bought legally from Tibet, and that he had paid the revenue to Nepal Government.
An investigator involved in the case, however, said that the two revenue bills provided doesn´t support Lama´s claim.
The police will send the vases and seven arrested to the Department of Forest for further investigation on Thursday.
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