KATHMANDU, July 30: The Department of Customs (DoC) has been lenient to take action against the officials involved in the inspection of more than one quintal of gold smuggled through the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). According to sources, the report of the internal investigation committee made by the DoC is going to be liberal to the employees involved in the inspection.

On July 18, a team of the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) seized more than one quintal of gold in Sinamangal that was cleared by the TIA customs office. The gold was recovered hidden in 'brake-shoes' of motorcycles and scooters and shaving razors.

Experts have been saying that the gold cannot pass the customs check without the cooperation of the employees of TIA. The inquiry committee of the DoC said that it has prepared a report to exonerate the employees involved in the inspection of customs of TIA, saying that it was a ‘human error’.

“It seems that the Ready Traders has transported goods in the same way 29 times,” The source said, “Even though the X-ray machine placed in TIA indicated information of illegal goods, it is clear that the employees of DoC  didn’t investigate on the spot. This indicates a sheer collusion of employees of TIA.”  

“The DoC is focused on how to shield the employees involved in gold inspection. In this way, it is almost certain that the report will be submitted stating human error,” said the sources.

Santosh Chand, customs officer of TIA customs office, Kumar Dhakal, a non-gazetted second-class officer, X-ray technician Saroj Shrestha have been suspended under the one quintal gold smuggling case. The DRI has arrested them and started an investigation into the gold smuggling case. Similarly, the then head of the TIA Customs Office, Arun Pokharel, has been removed from his duties and has been transferred to the Ministry of Finance.

Sources at the DRI said that the role of around 20 employees including the leadership of the TIA customs office is suspicious. Sources at the DoC, too, confirm this. 

About 15 employees of the TIA have their signatures on the documents produced while clearing the gold hidden in brake shoes and shaving razors. In spite of this, sources claim that the report of the DoC will be lenient to the employees involved in the gold smuggling case.

Delay in reporting

The DoC formed an internal investigation committee on July 20 after the team of the DRI recovered the smuggled gold from Sinamangal that had passed the TIA customs office. A six-member committee led by the director of the DoC, Man Bahadur Paudel, was initially given five days to investigate and submit a report on the smuggling of gold.

The five-day time allotted to the committee expired on Wednesday. The DoC said that five more days have been added as the investigation has not been completed. Punya Bikram Khadka, director and information officer of the DoC, said that the inquiry committee has already prepared the draft of the report. He said, “The draft is almost ready. As some additional topics have to be added, that work is being done.”

Director General of DoC, Shovakanta  Poudel, too, said that the draft is almost ready. “The committee has not completed its work yet. The overall work is being carried out in accordance with the continuous discussion between the inquiry committee and the DoC,” Director General Paudel said, “The evidence of this incident will be highlighted in the report. The report will provide actionable suggestions for solving the problem of security in TIA in a sustainable manner.”

Director General Poudel said that no clear evidence has been found that there was collusion of employees in gold smuggling or not. He said, “There has been a human error. Handling so many tasks at the same time leads to mistakes. Because the investigation is underway, it is not possible to say everything right now.”

Hong Kong Customs requested for assistance 

The investigation committee has also written to the Hong Kong Airport Customs Office, asking the latter to assist in the investigation. “We have requested a justification from the Airport Customs Office in Hong Kong about how such a large amount of gold had been exported from Hong Kong,”  Director General Poudel said, “Why was such a large amount of gold sent through Hong Kong customs? Why was it not checked properly? Why didn’t the X-ray machine of Hong Kong customs detect it? Why were the goods sent to help the gold smugglers? We have asked such questions with the Hong Kong Customs.” Poudel informed Republica, adding that the Hong Kong customs office has sent the reply letter with a commitment to help in the investigation.

According to the DoC, When the gold was brought to Nepal from Hong Kong, it was written ‘lead without battery’ in the manifest and ‘brake shoes’ in other documents. The inquiry committee of the DoC has asked questions to the Hong Kong Airport Customs Office on how the gold was mentioned as other products.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has drawn the attention of parliament to form a high-level committee to probe the 100 kg gold smuggling case.

A meeting of the committee today called for forming a high-powered committee to investigate the case.

 
• TIA
 
• DoC
 
• DRI