Inspector General of Police (IGP) Upendra Kanta Aryal, who was summoned by the committee, didn’t appear before the committee today. Instead Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Surendra Bahadur Shah appeared on behalf of the police authorities.

Acting on a tip-off, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police had seized 35 kgs of gold from a truck (Ba 3 Kha 2570) on July 10, 2013. The gold was being smuggled from Khasa, China to Kathmandu, by hiding it in the truck. But the CIB team intercepted the truck at Koteshwor.

A dispute ensued between the CIB officials and the informants regarding the commission amount as the latter claimed Rs 1,770,000 as tip-off reward.

However, the Police have claimed that the supposed informants did not tip off the CIB about any such consignment. Home Secretary Surya Silwal, at the committee’s hearing, claimed that ‘documents at the CIB doesn’t prove any tip-offs’.

According to Customs Act 2064, 15 percent of the commission has to be given to the officials and informants involved in controlling revenue fraud.

The Constituent Assembly (CA) members of the committee accused the police of replacing the names of actual informants with the names of their relatives. “The actual informants did not get the commission,” said the CA members, “The police should clarify who have been granted the commission.”

Nepali Congress lawmaker Dhan Raj Dhakal accused the police of threatening the actual informants. “The informants have been threatened by the police,” he said, drawing the attention of AIG Shah, “We will lodge a drugs case, finish you off in an encounter, these kinds of threat are being issued. This kind of torture should not be given.”

Likewise, Pariwar Dal lawmaker Ek Nath Dhakal accused the police of being involved in massive corruption in the name of informants.

Similarly, CPN-UML lawmaker Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal said that the police had destroyed any documents about the informants. “The informants have stated that the raid was carried out on July 10, a day after the tip-off on July 9,” said Dhakal in response to Home Secretary Silwal’s written clarification, “But in Home Secretary’s clarification, July 7 is the date when the information was registered.”

UML lawmaker Pashupati Chaulagain demanded clarification regarding the involvement of IGP Aryal, DIG Keshab Bahadur Shahi, DSP Ishwor Babu Karki, among other cops, citing their names have been brought up in the case.

Meanwhile, the committee lawmakers expressed their dissatisfaction over the absence of IGP Aryal in such a serious matter. They urged the committee Chairman Janardan Shah to summon the IGP in the next meeting of the committee.