Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed a corruption case against 29 individuals, including former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and his son Rahul, at the Special Court.
They have been accused of being involved in gold smuggling with the help of the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) Customs Office.
The anti-graft body has also charged Chief Customs Administrator of TIA Customs Office Arun Pokharel; Chief Customs Officers Muktiprasad Shrestha and Ambikaprasad Khanal; Customs Officers Ramesh Kumar Khatiwada and Subendra Shrestha; and non-gazetted officers Suvarnaprabha KC, Bhuvan Raj Ghimire, Umesh Prasad Koirala, Revant Khadka, and Madhusudan Pokharel.
Cases have also been lodged against Nirmal Kumar BK, Lokendra Kumar Poudel, Dipesh Basnet, Gopal Subedi, Dinesh Basnet, Bed Prakash Agrawal, Ram Keshav Thapa, Amrit Karki, and Nima Gurung. Likewise, Prerana Thapa, Lalita Thapa, Dipika Thapa, Chinese nationals Li Hang Song and Daojing Wang, Belgian national Dawa Tsering, and Indian national Sahev Rao Pandurang, and Dexter Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd.
According to the CIAA, Chinese national Li Hang Song arrived in Kathmandu on January 25, 2023, on a Flydubai flight carrying two suitcases. The suitcases contained 730 vapes packed in 73 boxes. CIAA officials say gold was concealed inside those vapes, and customs officials colluded in the smuggling.
“Instead of properly storing the seized items in a warehouse, they were intentionally kept in the office of the chief customs officer with malicious intent, and there were unusual meetings and phone communications with individuals involved in the group attempting to retrieve the gold,” CIAA said.
The CIAA has accused them of embezzling Rs 77.87 million by smuggling 8.48 kilograms of gold.to the CIAA.
