Daijiworld Media Network - Kathmandu
Kathmandu, Oct 12: In a significant development, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and senior Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara has been arrested by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).
The 68-year-old political veteran was detained on Sunday for his alleged involvement in an organized gold smuggling racket that operated nearly three years ago. The case centers on 730 pieces of gold that were covertly hidden inside electronic cigarettes, or vapes, seized by customs officials at Tribhuvan International Airport in December 2022.
The CIB stated that its investigation against Mahara will proceed under the Customs Act and laws related to organized crime. The investigation previously revealed that a Chinese national had arrived on a Fly Dubai flight with the gold concealed within vapes packed in two suitcases.
The consignment was initially confiscated. However, the plot thickened when a Deputy Section Officer at the customs office, Rewant Khadka, allegedly colluded with the syndicate to steal the seized goods from the government warehouse.
The smugglers then illegally extracted and sold the hidden gold, valued at a substantial NPR 85.52 million. Mahara, a close confidant of CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda,’ had been questioned earlier due to his contacts with Chinese smugglers but was not prosecuted at the time.
His son, Rahul Mahara, was, however, prosecuted in October 2023 for being in contact with the same ring. Police suggest the father-son duo coordinated with a Chinese national named Daojin Wang, who was also later linked to a separate 60 kg gold smuggling case.
Mahara, who has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Finance Minister, has a history of political controversy, including an alleged 2010 audio recording where he was purportedly heard seeking Rs 500 million from a Chinese individual to influence lawmakers, and his 2019 resignation as Speaker following a rape accusation, of which he was later acquitted.