Kathmandu, Sept 17: The Department of Revenue Investigation has prepared a case related to the seizure of approximately 60.716 kilograms of gold, which was confiscated on August 2nd of last year. The case has been registered at the District Court in Kathmandu by the government’s legal office.

The head of the government’s legal office, Achyutmani Nyupane, provided this information today. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police had submitted its investigation report on this case four days ago, and shortly after that, the government’s legal office registered the case.

The CIB had recommended filing charges against 25 individuals and declaring 4 of them as fugitives in connection with this case, but the government’s legal office is considering raising the number even higher.

In this case, there are 32 individuals in custody, including 8 Chinese nationals, and the CIB had recommended charges against 29 of them.

For questioning, the police had initially listed the names of 25 individuals, including Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Varsha Pun, Deepesh Pun, Pranish Pun, Amala Roka, Bindu Magar, among others. However, they only summoned Deepesh Pun for questioning, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Rahul Mahara is being kept under surveillance for further investigation, and his case has not yet been forwarded to the government’s legal office.

The CIB had implicated the chief executive of the company involved in gold smuggling, Daojin Wang, and Belgian national Davy Chirin, in addition to some political figures associated with them. However, the government’s legal office has not mentioned anything about their connection in the case.

The government’s legal office is also hesitant to file charges against these individuals in connection with the case.

Daojin Wang and Davy Chirin had been seen meeting with the Maoist Center’s Vice Chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Deputy Secretary Varsha Pun, and former President Nandabahadur Pun, but the CIB has not disclosed any further details about their involvement.

Davy Chirin had been operating a hotel called Bihana in Thamel and had a business partnership with Pranish Pun, the brother of Varsha Pun, who is the Deputy Secretary of the Maoist Center.

Chirin’s company, involved in gold mining in Nepal, had partnerships with Amala Roka, Manjil Shrestha, Chinese national Zhiliang Jiliaang, Chen Kaimu, Guangpeng Jong, and Pranish Pun.

Although the police had compiled a list of 25 individuals for questioning, only Deepesh Pun was summoned for interrogation. His mobile phone is still unreachable, and Rahul Mahara is under surveillance for further investigation. His case has not been sent to the government’s legal office.

In its investigation report, the CIB mentioned seven companies involved in gold smuggling. These companies include Electric Suppliers Kathmandu, run by Lekhnath Karki; Bhujel Electric Suppliers Pvt. Ltd., led by Ramkumar Bhujel; Hawada Electric Suppliers Pvt. Ltd., managed by Kumar Bahadur Bhujel; Pawati Electric Suppliers Pvt. Ltd., with Ram Bahadur Bhujel as the operator; Dolakha Electric Suppliers Pvt. Ltd., run by Bikundar Bhujel; Redi Trade Pvt. Ltd., owned by Dilip Bhujel; and Sarita Suppliers, led by Sarita Tamang.

These companies were implicated in the CIB’s report for their involvement in gold smuggling. Additionally, the CIB report mentioned the use of a machine capable of smelting 10 tolas of gold in ten minutes, which was utilized in ten places inside Nepal, including two at Tribhuvan International Airport, to secretly melt the gold.