Kathmandu: In connection to a massive gold smuggling racket, Nepal Police on Friday arrested two more Chinese nationals from the Kathmandu airport while they were awaiting to board a flight to Beijing.
Last month, the police confiscated one quintal of gold smuggled from Hong Kong and arrested some Chinese and Nepali nationals in connection.
The final destination of the smuggled gold is believed to be India, according to the Nepal Police.
The two Chinese nationals arrested on Friday were identified asLi Jialin and Li Fuyan.
The two were in the black list of the Department of Revenue Intelligence for their alleged involvement in the gold smuggling case.
A huge debate is going on in Nepal’s parliament over investigating the case and the main opposition, CPN-UML has been obstructing the regular house proceedings over the issue.
While the CPN-UML is demanding a high-level probe into the case, the government is being criticised for not initiating an investigation for organised crime even after it was revealed that the smuggling was well-planned and taking place with the involvement of nationals from multiple countries.
Initially, the Department of Revenue Investigation was probing the matter but after huge pressure from different quarters, now the government has handed over the responsibility to Central Investigation Bureau, a special arm of the Nepal Police that handles organised crime.
The two Chinese nationals have been handed over to the Bureau for further interrogation, according to the Nepal Police.
On July 18, the Department of Revenue Investigation had seized a huge quantity of gold from Sinamangal, Kathmandu after the consignment had passed the airport customs undetected.
The department had sent the gold, hidden in cartons of motorcycle brake shoes and electric shavers, to the Nepal Rastra Bank, where the yellow metal’s gross weight was found to be 155kg.
A total of 18 people have been arrested so far.
–IANS
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