The Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) of Nepal Police has said that the Armed Police Force (APF) personnel deployed at the Rasuwa-Kerung border, the only trade route currently in operation between Nepal and China, had colluded with smugglers to illegally bring 88 kg gold to Kathmandu.

According to a high-level source, Bishnu Pandit, an APF constable, deployed at the Kerung border had helped smugglers find a driver for the Tata Storme jeep which was used to smuggle the precious yellow metal to the Capital.

Soon after the confiscation of the gold, police had arrested jeep driver Manoj Adhikari of Makawanpur.

Based on information provided by Adhikari, police had started investigation into the APF man.

Police said that the jeep had entered China via Rasuwa-Kerung border on August 31 to transport the gold.

Hence, the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR), Kathmandu, as part of investigation had sent a letter seeking the name list of APF personnel who were on duty on that day. The MPR had sent another letter after it did not get the response of its earlier letter.

The investigating team finally got the name list of the APF personnel who were on duty at the border on that day, according to a police source.

The MPR then had called an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and four constables for interrogation.

APF DSP Prakash Wagle, who was handling the team at the border, said that he sent the name list of the police personnel as per the MPR’s request.

He, however, did not respond to queries regarding the involvement of APF personnel in the gold smuggling.

Pan Wei Ming, a Chinese man, who had reached Kerung from Kathmandu to transport the gold from China had requested the APF to help him find a vehicle.

The police source said that Pandit had helped Pan to find the vehicle.

Pan is a familiar face for many at the Rasuwa-Kerung border as he used to go to China from Nepal frequently in the past. 

Pandit had asked Sandu Tamang of Rasuwa to drive the vehicle (Ba 17 Cha 6427) for Pan. Pan left the Kerung border with the vehicle at around 2:30pm the same day.

According to the source, Pan, who operates Kathmandu One Hotel at Thamel, had good relations with APF personnel and that made it easier for him to illegally smuggle the gold into Nepal.

A police team deputed from the MPCD on September 4 had confiscated 88kg gold—the biggest haul of the precious yellow metal ever confiscated in Nepal—worth over Rs 340 million from Chhetrapati in the Capital.

Driver Adhikari was arrested immediately after police seized the precious yellow metal on September 4. 

 Police on October 16 had also arrested a Nepali Congress (NC) leader in connection with the 88kg gold smuggling case.

Man Bahadur Tamang of Rasuwa, who has been recommended by the ruling NC as its candidate under the proportional representation category, was arrested from Swoyambhu in the Capital by a team of security personnel deployed by the MPCD.  

According to police, Tamang, also the chairman of Nepal-Kerung Business Association, was the first point of contact of the Chinese gold smugglers.

Police so far have arrested nine persons, including Tamang, in connection with the gold smuggling case.

Police said they arrested Tamang based on phone conversation he had held with Pan.  The police team found conversation log in Pan’s phone. However, they have not been able to unlock Tamang’s iPhone. As a result, police are yet to collect further evidence in the case as Tamang is refusing to cooperate with the police to unlock his iPhone.

Tamang, during interrogation, told police that he does not know the passcode of his iPhone, saying that he randomly pressed the phone’s keys, which are reportedly in Chinese, causing it to lock.

Meanwhile, police have sent the locked iPhone to MPCD digital team.

Earlier on August 31, a police team deployed from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had seized 15 kg gold out of 22 kg that was smuggled from 

China and arrested seven persons in connection with the smuggling.

Similarly, on January 5, the CIB had seized 33 kg gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport that had passed undetected through the customs.