Police have arrested businessman Nabin Raj Basnet in connection with a red sandalwood smuggling case dating back 13 years.

A team from the Central Investigation Bureau took Basnet into custody from his residence in Bhaktapur on Friday evening, bureau chief AIG Uma Chaturvedi confirmed to Kantipur.

The case had remained pending because investigators could not establish the address of the accused, Chaturvedi said. The court recently approached the bureau after his whereabouts became known, prompting the issuance of an arrest warrant.

“The case had been pending on the grounds that the defendant’s address was unknown at the time,” Chaturvedi said. “The court recently submitted a request after his address was established. An arrest warrant was then issued, and he was taken into custody.”

Basnet will be produced before the court when it reopens, Chaturvedi said.

The Department of Money Laundering Investigation had previously raided Basnet’s home as part of a separate investigation. Department officials searched his residence while conducting raids on properties belonging to people close to former Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana, including Rana’s brother Prabhu Shumsher.

Following the raid, the Central Investigation Bureau began looking for Basnet.

Police also found that Basnet had been in contact with Inam Sapkota, whom they allege acted as an intermediary between former chief justice Rana and other high-profile figures facing criminal charges or serving prison sentences.

An examination of Sapkota’s mobile phone records showed communications with former high court judge Nawaraj Thapaliya, Deepak Timilsina, who is known as a middleman in the courts, Prabhu Shumsher Rana and Basnet.

Investigators say they are examining these connections as part of an effort to uncover alleged networks of influence and deal-making within the judiciary.

Officials said Basnet would also be investigated for possible money laundering offences alongside the old smuggling case.