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Court starts recording main accused Gore’s statement
The Morang District Court on Wednesday started recording statement of Chudamani Upreti aka Gore, the alleged mastermind of the 33 kg gold smuggling case. His statement was recorded in the presence of District Judge Narayan Prasad Sharma.Binod Bhandari & Madhav Ghimire
The Morang District Court on Wednesday started recording statement of Chudamani Upreti aka Gore, the alleged mastermind of the 33 kg gold smuggling case. His statement was recorded in the presence of District Judge Narayan Prasad Sharma.
A source said the court officials grilled Upreti about the background of the gold smuggling case and the suspects involved in the smuggling of the precious yellow metal.
According to the source, Upreti replied that all the defendants were involved in the gold smuggling. He also said gold was smuggled with the help of police officers who were provided certain amount in return. The District Attorney’s Office filed a charge-sheet at the court against 63 suspects in the 33 kg gold smuggling case and the murder of Shakya. Thirty-two other suspects are still at large. The office also recommended recovery of Rs17 billion and an additional fine of Rs18 million from the accused.
The court plans to enquire Upreti on Thursday by showing the video clips of torture that they inflicted on Sanam Shakya, the alleged gold carrier who was electrocuted to death, and other clips related to the case. A special probe team, led by Home Ministry Joint-secretary Ishwor Poudel, had arrested Upreti from Gaurighat in Kathmandu on Tuesday morning. He was later brought to Biratnagar and presented before the court.
Upreti tells court his life is under threat, wants rights activists to watch
Claiming that his life is under threat, Upreti pleaded to the Morang District Court on Wednesday that he be kept in custody under the monitoring of human rights activists. He is currently in police custody in Morang. Premlal Chaudhary, an employee at the Tribhuvan International Airport and one of the accused in the gold smuggling case, had committed suicide in police custody under ‘suspicious circumstance’.
28 accused transferred to Jhumka Prison
Twenty-eight suspects, who have been remanded in custody by the court, were taken to the Regional Prison in Jhumka, Sunsari on Wednesday. DSP Nishan Thapa, an investigating officer, said the court gave them permission to take former DIG Govinda Prasad Niraula, SSP Dibesh Lohani and SP Bikash Raj Khanal, among other suspects, to Jhumka as the Morang Prison has been flooded with inmates.