Weight of gold smuggled as brake shoes assessed at 60.789 kg

KATHMANDU: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has announced that brake shoes impounded by the Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) on July 18 contained 60.789 kg of gold.

The central bank made the announcement after inspecting the contents of the boxes and taking measurements of gold molded into brake shoes at the Department of Minting on Monday. Thaneshwar Acharya, chief of the department, said that boxes containing brake shoes weighed 155 kg.

A team from the Department of Revenue Investigation had confiscated gold, illegally brought into the country in brake shoe boxes, on July 18, after the consignment had passed through the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Customs Office. DRI had initially estimated that the boxes could contain 100 kg of gold.

“We will now melt down the gold and conduct a fresh measurement to obtain an accurate assessment,” Acharya said.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has arrested 18 people, including some Indian and Chinese nations, in connection to its investigation into the case. Preliminary investigation shows brake shoe consignments have passed through the TIA customs on multiple occasions.

The main opposition, CPN-UML, has been obstructing Hosue sessions since the November 18 gold haul, demanding the formation of a high-level inquiry committee for a thorough investigation of the case.