Mahara Arrested, Again, in Gold Smuggling Case

Police on Sunday, October 12, arrested CPN (Maoist Centre) leader and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara for his alleged involvement in a three-year-old gold smuggling case.

Earlier in March 2024, he was detained from Kapilvastu in the same case.

The latest detention follows questioning by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) at its Tangal office on Thursday, October 9.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police has been investigating the case, which dates back to December 2022, when a Chinese national, Li Hansong, was arrested at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) after arriving on a Fly Dubai flight. Customs officials found 730 units of electronic cigarettes (vapes) hidden inside two suitcases. Upon further inspection, they discovered gold worth Rs 85.52 million concealed inside the vapes.

The CIB said the smuggled gold was seized and stored at the airport’s customs office. However, an investigation later revealed that the gold had been sold in collusion, involving Revanta Khadka, a non-gazetted first-class customs officer.

Mahara is accused of exerting pressure on customs officials to secure the release of the confiscated gold. His son, Rahul Mahara, had earlier been arrested in connection with the same case and sent to prison.

The CIB said in a statement Sunday that Krishna Bahadur Mahara was arrested on charges of profiting from gold sales by forming a criminal group in an organised manner.

A senior Maoist leader, Mahara has long been mired in controversy. In October 2019, he was arrested in an attempted rape case but was acquitted by the Kathmandu District Court in February 2020.