The mastermind behind the 33 kg gold smuggling case, Chudamani Upreti aka Gore, has named 10 ‘Hundi’ operators and businessmen other than the 65 people charged in the Morang District Court with crimes related to smuggling of the precious metal.

A special team formed to probe the smuggling case, led by Home Ministry Joint-secretary Ishwor Poudel, arrested Gore from Gaurighat in Kathmandu on Tuesday morning. He had entered Nepal last week from India via Jhapa before heading for Kathmandu. He was paraded before the media at the Home Ministry on Tuesday noon.

“In course of investigation, he gave 10 new names of ‘HUNDI’ [operators] and businessmen for whom he smuggled the gold,” said Poudel, adding that Gore was flown to the Morang District Court soon after the press conference. The hearing process continues, with only 32 of the 65 people presented to the court. They have been charged with corruption, money laundering and foreign exchange misappropriation while Gore also faces the charges of abduction and murder.

The Crime Investigation Bureau had confiscated 33 kg gold, which passed the Tribhuvan International Airport customs undetected on January 5 last year. The gold has disappeared since. Gore is also the alleged murderer of Sanam Shakya, a carrier, whose body was found in a jeep in Siraha on March 3.

Gore is said to have tortured Shakya to death to extract information about the disappeared gold, which allegedly belonged to Mohan Kumar Agrawal. Gore is also the suspected murderer of Sanu Ban, a TIA staffer who helped him take the gold out of the airport. Officials have said Gore smuggled 3,999.6 kg gold in total, in collusion with his accomplices since July 2015. Gore is said to have confessed with police that he had acted for others.