RAUTAHAT, May 16: The fertilizers which were seized by the police on May 12, were again handed over to the smuggler by Gaur customs within a short time.

Head of Customs Office Gaur, Basu Nepal and non-gazetted first class official Rewati Rokka, arranged a setting with the smugglers so that the fertilizer would reach them at about half the price.

The Gaur Customs Office has auctioned 803 bags of Urea, 479 bags of DAP and 24 bags of Potash on May 15, within a short time of issuing the notice to increase the auction.

The fertilizers, whose price was fixed by the team of District Police Office Rautahat and Armed Police Force Nepal Gaur, were handed over to the smuggler by Gaur customs through a businessman of Chandrapur for one million rupees on May 15.

The illegally imported chemical fertilizers were auctioned by the Gaur customs office with the connivance of businessmen. Locals allege that the customs chief conducted an auction and handed it over to the smugglers through the customs agent at a valuation of about half of the market value.

The Rautahat police seized 1,300 sacks of fertilizers from a house located in Rajpur municipality 5 last Friday evening. The fertilizers, which were registered at the Gaur Customs Office on Sunday, were auctioned by the Customs Office after completing the process within a short time on Monday.

It has been found that the police are getting discouraged as the security personnel seize the goods of illegal exportation but while filing the customs, the officers keep the low customs rate in the auction process. According to the Rautahat district police office, the customs auctioned the fertilizers by keeping an extremely low amount.

Meanwhile, Gaur Customs Office Chief Basu Nepal has said that the auction process was not conducted in a hurry. He said that the auction was held due to the lack of space and the fertilizers kept in the compound getting damaged by rain. He claimed that he had not colluded with any smuggler and auctioned the fertilizer at a low price.

As the auction was held shortly after the notice was published, the customs chief is being criticized everywhere. Even earlier, the head of customs Nepal has already explained to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) regarding reduction of the customs revenue in collaboration with the smugglers and irregularities happening in Gaur customs.

At a time when the authority is investigating the customs chief Nepal, within a few moments of issuing the notice, Nepal has been criticized in the headquarter Gaur for reducing the revenue by millions of rupees by handing over chemical fertilizers to smugglers at half price.

Similarly, Rewati Rokka of Gaur Customs Office's case branch said that chemical fertilizer auction was held under pressure from the district administration office, goods port office, municipality, treasury and accounting control office and representatives of local industry and commerce association.

Rokka mentioned that Jai Maa Durga Enterprises of Rajpur has accepted the auction of the fertilizers recovered from Rajpur. It is the local's allegation that with the connivance of the customs chief, the fertilizer reached there.

 
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