Rahul Mahara, three others charged in 9 kg gold gold smuggling case

KATHMANDU: The District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kathmandu, Wednesday filed a case against four individuals for involvement in a gold smuggling case dating back to December last year.

The DGAO filed the case against Rahul Mahara, the son of former Deputy Prime Minsiter and Vice-Chairman of CPN (Maoist Center) Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Lokendra Kumar Paudel of Sarlahi, Belgian national Dawa Tshering, and Nima Gurung of Bouddha, Kathmandu.

They have been charged with organized crime, smuggling, and criminal breach of trust.

While Gurung is still at large, Tshering is in custody for investigation into the smuggling of 60 kilograms of gold through Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in July.

The TIA Customs Office had seized 730 units of vapes brought on a Flydubai flight in December last year.  The consignment, which contained 9 kg of gold, was replaced in collusion with staffers of the customs office and allegedly sold in the market.

According to CIB, Mahara was regularly in touch with Daojin Wang the mastermind behind recent cases of gold smuggling in Npeal.