The Armed Police Force has released 649 electric vehicles that were held for nine days on suspicion of exploiting leaked budget details. The BYD cars, intercepted at multiple checkpoints along the Korala-Jomsom-Pokhara corridor, were freed after an internal investigation cleared them of custom violations, though the official report remains hidden from the public.

Security personnel had impounded the vehicles at Kushma in Parbat, Hemja in Kaski, and Jomsom in Mustang. The mass seizure occurred just before the budget presentation for the upcoming fiscal year of 2026-27, following allegations that importers received insider information about impending changes to customs duties.

Bidur Chudal, chief of the Mustang Customs Office at Korala, confirmed that the release process began on Saturday. “The cleared vehicles are currently being collected by their respective dealers,” said Chudal. “A total of 649 vehicles had completed their customs clearance before being halted at various security points. On Saturday alone, businesses retrieved 108 cars.”

According to Chudal, 774 vehicles had arrived at the Korala border. While 649 have been cleared and released, the remaining 125 vehicles are still undergoing standard customs processing. Representatives from the importing company have arrived in Mustang with drivers to transport the remaining units from Jomsom and Korala.

The Ministry of Finance had formed two separate probe committees, led by Customs Department directors Bhupalraj Shakya and Surendra Pandey, to investigate imports through the Korala and Rasuwa border points. However, the government directed the release of the Mustang convoy without publicising the findings of either panel.

Department of Customs Director and Information Officer Kishore Bartaula defended the decision to release the vehicles, citing a lack of evidence of any wrongdoings. “It is natural for the state to be suspicious when an unusually large volume of goods enters the country right before the budget announcement,” Bartaula said. “However, the investigation showed that all import procedures were fully compliant. Once no discrepancies were found, we could not legally hold commercial property and disrupt business.”

The Ministry of Finance had previously issued a statement on June 10 through Nabin Dhungana, public relations adviser to Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, asserting that the imports followed regular procedures. The ministry dismissed claims of a budget leak as baseless, stating that the large-scale imports of these electric vehicles were planned months in advance.

Despite the breakthrough at the Korala border, a separate batch of more than 200 electric vehicles imported through the Rasuwagadhi crossing remains grounded at Timure. These vehicles, consisting of Kaiyi brand cars imported by Laxmi E-Mobility, are still under administrative scrutiny.

“We have not received any orders to release the vehicles here,” said an official at the Rasuwa Customs Office, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The investigation concerning this checkpoint has not concluded.” To ensure an impartial probe, the finance ministry has already transferred the customs staff involved in clearing the Rasuwa batch and deployed new officers to the site.

The APF confirmed that its actions throughout the incident were coordinated directly with civilian authorities. “We initially detained the vehicles following a formal request from the Ministry of Finance to facilitate a thorough investigation,” said APF Spokesperson Deputy Inspector General Netra Bahadur Karki. “We have now initiated the release of the vehicles in Mustang in coordination with the finance ministry.”