Gold smuggling probe commission takes statement from Mahara

KATHMANDU: Former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara has provided a statement to a commission formed to investigate cases of gold smuggling.

Members of the commission took Mahara’s statement for nearly one and a half hours on Thursday regarding the smuggling of gold concealed as vapes from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

The Crime Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, which investigated the gold smuggling, has not named Mahara as a defendant in the case. However, his son, Rahul, has been remanded to judicial custody until a final verdict is reached.

Mahara informed CIB officers that he was not involved in the smuggling and that he only telephoned the then chief of the TIA Customs Office to inquire why the consignment of vapes was not released from customs.

The Vice President of the CPN (Maoist Center) openly admitted that Daojin Wang, the main accused in the gold smuggling case, is an old acquaintance.