CPN (Maoist Center) Vice Chairman Krishna Bahadur Mahara has been remanded to four days in custody.
Mahara, who was arrested in Kapilvastu and brought to Kathmandu on Monday morning in connection with the 61 kg gold smuggling case, was taken to the District Court Kathmandu for a remand.
Judge Durga Prasad Khanal remanded Mahara to four days in custody even though the Office of the District Attorney sought a remand of seven days.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) was keeping close tabs on Mahara after the high-level probe commission led by former High Court Chief Judge Dilli Raj Acharya submitted a report on Thursday (March 14) mentioning the involvement of high-ranking leaders and officials in the gold smuggling case.
Receiving the report, Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane had directed Home Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Basanta Kunwar and CIB Chief Shyam Gyawali to immediately implement the report of the probe commission.
Rahul Mahara, the son of Krishna Bahadur, who had been arrested on the charge of smuggling nine kilograms of gold concealed disguised as e-cigarettes (vape), is still serving a judicial custody.
The Department of Revenue Investigation on July 18, 2023 seized the 61 kilograms of gold that had passed undetected outside the Customs Office of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
