Himal Press 
Police recovering gold smuggled into the country by Chandra Ghale.
KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu District Court has sent eight defendants involved in the 14 kg gold smuggling case to judicial remand.
A single bench of District Judge Shankar Bahadur Rai issued the order following a bail hearing on Monday.
The court denied bail to Chandra Ghale, who was arrested with 14 kg of gold at Tribhuvan International Airport, Min Bahadur Ghale, who looked after the overall management of the smuggling,, and Krishna Kumar Shrestha, who smuggled gold into the country from Dubai in the past. Similarly, five other defendants – Radha Krishna Shrestha, Lek Bahadur Tamang, Ramesh Deula, Anil Shrestha, and Sher Bahadur Basnet – have also been denied bail. All five are staffers of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). Police investigations revealed that these individuals were assisting the smugglers by accepting bribes.
Two others – Dhan Bahadur Gurung, aka DB, and his wife Bina – are currently absconding.
Police initiated an investigation into the racket after the arrest of Chandra Ghale from Gorkha at the airport with 14 kg of gold on December 8. Police estimate that the racket may have smuggled more than 138 kg of gold into the country.
The court has ordered the police to provide details of other individuals linked to the smuggling, such as Indian national Ankit Grawal and Nepali nationals Rajendra Basnet, Bimal Poddar, Rajkumar Bharati, Jivan Gurung, and Guru, once their names, locations, and offense details are revealed.
