September 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has recommended to the District Attorney’s Office to take action against 50 persons involved in recent gold smuggling scam.

The CIB made the recommendation on Wednesday while submitting a report prepared after investigating the 61 kg gold smuggling scam.    
 The District Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu has been recommended to initiate cases against the accused under seven different crimes. District Attorney Mahesh Prasad Khatri confirmed that the office received the report along with the recommendation.    
    
The CIB has argued in the report that the accused should be prosecuted as per the Customs Act, Organized Crime Act, Nepal Rastra Bank Act, Criminal Code, Nepal Citizenship Act, Passport Act and the Immigration Act.

 According to Additional Inspector General of Nepal Police Kiran Bajracharya, chief of the CIB, the investigation found that those involved in the racket had smuggled more than 362 kilograms of gold through seven companies. However, only 61 kgs of gold was collected in the latest incident. The CIB has suggested the District Attorney to sue the smugglers, seeking recovery of Rs 3.50 billion from them.    
So far, 23 Nepalis and nine foreigners have been held in connection with the case, while 18 are still absconding.    
On July 19, a team of Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) had confiscated 61 kgs of gold that passed TIA customs clearance from Sinamangal. The gold brought illegally from Hong Kong was found hidden in brake shoes. -- RSS