Valley
SSP caught in TIA gold smuggling case
A senior police officer was caught on Sunday in connection with the case of 33 kg gold smuggling via the Tribhuvan International Airport last month.Manish Gautam
A senior police officer was caught on Sunday in connection with the case of 33 kg gold smuggling via the Tribhuvan International Airport last month.
A team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Senior Superintendent of Police Shyam Khatri, who was in charge of the airport security while the whopping amount of gold apparently got security clearance.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Nawaraj Silwal, chief of the CIB, confirmed the arrest. SSP Khatri was arrested from the Police Headquarters on Sunday afternoon. The CIB is preparing to write a letter to the Naxal headquarters, seeking his suspension.
Other sources said many people held in the case earlier had blamed the airport security in-charge for the crime. Investigation showed that he had been taking
kickbacks from smugglers, said the source. Statements from SSP Khatri would be recorded from Monday.
He might face charges of organised crime, together with seven others held in the gold smuggling case. The CIB on January 5 seized the gold, which had passed undetected through the TIA customs.
The CIB team had nabbed Gopal Bahadur Shahi, who had boarded an Air Arabia flight from the UAE. Shahi was caught after he had made his way out of the airport. The CIB team later arrested two other persons—Dinbandhu Thapa of Morang and Santosh Kafle Shahi of Dhanusha. The duo had reached the airport to receive the precious metal.
On January 18, police summoned SSP Khatri from the TIA to the headquarters as investigation into the high profile case intensified. The CIB had requested Inspector General of Police Upendra Kanta Aryal to recall SSP Khatri after investigators traced his involvement.
In 2013, SSP Rabi Raj Shrestha was suspended after he was found involved in the smuggling of foreign currencies worth over Rs100 million. The involvement of senior police officers in smuggling cases has raised questions over the security situation at the country’s only international airport.
With SSP Khatri’s arrest, the CIB has apprehended a total of eight officials in connection with gold smuggling. The kingpin of the racket, however, is yet to be identified.
The Customs Department had also suspended six officials for “abetting the smugglers” while it idled as many as 29 officials deployed to the airport.