Commission requests Council of Ministers to extend deadline by three months

KATHMANDU, Dec 30: The three months deadline given by the government to the high-level probe commission to investigate the gold smuggling case has expired.

The government formed the four-member commission headed by former High Court judge Dilliram Acharya on October 1 to investigate the issue of illegal gold smuggling from the Tribhuvan International Airport. The members of the commission are former joint secretaries Kishor Jung Karki and Premraj Joshi and former Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Police Sahakul Thapa. The commission was given a three-month period to study and investigate the gold smuggling.

The deadline expired on Saturday.

Dilliraj Acharya said that although the time given to the commission by the government has expired, the investigation has not been completed yet.

As the research and study work is still pending, the commission has also written to the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting for more time.

According to Acharya, the Commission had already written a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on December 20, requesting an extension of time. But according to that, the meeting of the Council of Ministers has not taken any decision.

“As per the designated time, the deadline is till today. But we have already written a letter on December 20 for a three-month extension," Acharya said, "we think decision regarding the extention of time is under process."

Although the meeting of the Council of Ministers decided on October 1 to form the commission, its first meeting was held only on October 4. The next day, the commission held a press conference and announced that the work had started. An office has been set up in the building of the old Ministry of Home Affairs at Singha Durbar and the work of study and research has been carried forward.

The Commission has investigated the smuggling of 9 kg of gold concealed in Vape and the smuggling of 60 kg of gold that was smuggled into Tribhuvan International Airport on July 18.

During the investigation, the inquiry commission also took the statement of the accused arrested in this case.

The Commission has taken the statements of the accused and those who were released on bail in these two gold smuggling cases.

Chairman Acharya said that the Commission has taken the statements of 31 people, including those who are in pre-trial detention and those who have been released on bail in this case within a period of three months.

Similarly, the Commission has discussed with 24 experts for the study and research on gold smuggling. Acharya said that the commission has also discussed with six organizations.

The Commission of Inquiry is in the process of discussing the persons who have been brought under investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in the gold case but have not been prosecuted.

"Currently, we are engaged in deliberations concerning individuals identified by the CIB who have yet to face prosecution, and we are in the process of obtaining their statements," stated Acharya.

The CIB had documented the statements of some people during the investigation. The statement of former Speaker and Vice Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) Krishna Bahadur Mahara was also documented. He was found to be related to the person who smuggled in 9 kg of gold. After the gold was seized by the customs office, he contacted the customs chief and understood the auction process. In this case, his son Rahul Mahara is in custody pending trial.

This commission of inquiry has been given the power to arrest if found involved during the investigation. But, so far no one has been arrested by this commission.

The commission also monitored various places where gold was smuggled during a period of three months.

The Commission also conducted an on-site study and observation of Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office, Department of Immigration, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Nepal Transit and Warehousing Company Limited and security agencies.

Similarly, the team also reached the customs checkpoint in Rasuwa, Tatopani checkpoint and Lamabagar in Dolakha.

According to Adhikari, Rasuwa and other places were monitored before Tihar festival.

Acharya said that the officials of the commission found some serious issues during the monitoring.

According to him, a 'Vehicle Scanner Machine' has been installed at the Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office, which scans the vehicle. However, the machine situated in the cargo warehouse is non-operational and has been in a state of disrepair for an extended period.

There is a scanner machine at the Rasuwa checkpoint, but it was also found to be non-operational, he noted. The manpower of the police and customs staff at the checkpoint is insufficient. Commission officials discovered a significant risk of smuggling when the machine is not in operation. The exact timeline of when the machine was installed and when it fell out of use remains uncertain.

After identifying issues in these three agencies, the commission team went to Dolakha for monitoring. Following the recovery of 11 kg of gold smuggled from the Chinese border, the Commission's team also investigated the matter. In this case, nine people were remanded in custody, three people were released on bail, and two people were released on their own recognizance by the district court.

Acharya mentioned that the commission also worked on investigating 14 kg of gold brought in from the airport through a porter. He clarified that the commission is still in the process of understanding the nature of this investigation.

On July 18, the Department of Revenue Investigation seized gold concealed in brake shoes, passed from the Tribhuvan International Airport Customs Office. A total of 60.716 kg of gold was recovered from that operation.

 
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