Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: CPN (Maoist Center) Vice Chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that he would support the ongoing investigation into gold smuggling
Commenting on news reports alleging his involvement in the smuggling, Mahara said investigative agencies have not yet contacted him to provide a statement.
“I have been consistently expressing my willingness to assist in the investigation. I have been requesting them to call me for a statement if they think I am involved in it. But if they don’t want to take any action, there is nothing I can do,” Mahara said, talking to reporters in Dang.
Mahara said that he has known Chinese national Dwojin Wang, who has been linked to the gold smuggling case, for the past 10 years. “He is involved in fruit imports and has been living in Nepal for the past 15 years. He can speak Nepali fluently,” Mahara said.
The former Speaker also said he talked to a customs officer about Wang told him his consignment of vape was stuck in customs. “I didn’t know the consignment contained gold, Wang didn’t tell me anything about it,” Mahara claimed. “I didn’t talk with the customs officer on the phone as media outlets are claiming. I met him in person.”
Mahara also said he requested the customs officer to expedite the customs clearance process as per the law. “I didn’t put any pressure on him to release the consignment,” he added.
Mahara claimed that he met the officer when he was serving jail term.
“Before talking with the customs officer, I asked Wang whether the consignment contained anything illegal items. Since it was not containing anything illegal, I felt there was nothing wrong with conversing with the customs officer who I have known for a long time, Mahara added.
Mahara refuted any suggestion of gold-related discussions between his son Rahul and Wang. “Rahul did talk with Wang but the conversations did not revolve around the topic of gold,” he added.
