National
88 kg gold smuggled in collusion with APF personnel: Police
The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) of Nepal Police has said that the Armed Police Force (APF) personnel deployed at the Rasuwa-Kerung border, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, had colluded in smuggling 88 kg gold to Kathmandu.The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) of Nepal Police has said that the Armed Police Force (APF) personnel deployed at the Rasuwa-Kerung border, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, had colluded in smuggling 88 kg gold to Kathmandu.
According to a high-level source, Bishnu Pandit, APF constable, deployed at the Kerung border had helped smugglers find a driver for a Tata Storme jeep which was used to smuggle the precious yellow metal to the Capital.
Soon after the confiscation of the gold, police arrested jeep driver Manoj Adhikari of Makawanpur the same day.
Based on the information provided by Adhikari, police had started investigation over the suspicious role of APF personnel.
Police said that the jeep had entered China via Rasuwa-Kerung border on August 31 to transport the gold.
Hence, the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, as part of investigation had sent a letter seeking name list of the APF personnel who were on the duty on that day.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, sent another letter after it did not get reply of its first letter for a long time.
The investigating team finally got the name list of the APF personnel who were on the duty at the border on that day after a long struggle, according to a police source.
After the investigating team got the name list, the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu called an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and four constables for interrogation.
APF DSP Prakash Wagle, who was handling the team at the border, said that he sent the name list of the police personnel after Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, sent the letter the office.
Wagle said, “We sent the name list after the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu, request us for the same for investigation.” He, however, did not respond to queries regarding the involvement of APF personnel in the gold smuggling.
Pan Wei Ming, a Chinese man, who had reached Kerung from Kathmandu to transport the gold from China had requested APF to help him find a vehicle.
The police source said that Pandit had helped Pan to find the vehicle.
Pan is a common face for many at the Rasuwa-Kerung border as he used to go China from Nepal frequently in the past. Taking advantage of the same thing, Pan had asked AFP personnel for the help.
Pandit had asked Sandu Tamang of Rasuwa to drive the vehicle (Ba 17 Cha 6427) for Pan. Pan left the Kerung border with the vehicle at around 2:30 pm the same day.
According to the source, Pan, who operates Kathmandu One Hotel at Thamel, had a good relationship with APF personnel and that made it easy for him to illegally import gold to Nepal.
A police team deputed from the MPCD on September 4 had confiscated 88kg gold—the biggest haul of the precious yellow metal ever confiscated in Nepal—worth over Rs 340 million from Chhetrapati in the Capital.
Driver Adhikari was arrested immediately after police seized the precious yellow metal on September 4.
Police on October 16 had also arrested Nepali Congress (NC) leader in connection with the 88kg gold smuggling case.
Man Bahadur Tamang of Rasuwa, who has been recommended by the ruling NC as its candidate under the proportional representation category, was arrested from Swoyambhu in the Capital by a team of security personnel deployed by the MPCD.
According to police, Tamang, also the chairman of Nepal-Kerung Business Association, was the first point of contact of the Chinese gold smugglers.
Police so far have arrested nine persons, including Tamang, in connection with the gold smuggling case.
Police said that they arrested Tamang based on phone conversation he held with Pan. The police team found conversation log in Pan’s phone, however, they have not been able to unlock Tamang’s iphone.
As a result, police are yet to collect further evidence on the case as Tamang is unwilling to cooperate with the police to unlock the iphone.
Tamang, during the investigation had said that he does not know the passcode to his iphone saying that he randomly pressed the phone’s keys, which are reportedly in Chinese, causing it to lock.
Meanwhile, the police have sent the locked iPhone to MPCD digital team.
Earlier on August 31, a police team deployed from Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had seized 15 kg gold out of 22 kg that was smuggled from China and arrested seven persons in connection with the smuggling.
Similarly, on January 5, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had seized 33 kg gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport that had passed undetected through the customs.