The main opposition party, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) – Marxist Leninist, has accused the government of negligence in addressing the issue of gold smuggling. During a parliamentary session on Monday, lawmakers from the NCP raised their concerns over the matter.
NCP parliamentarian Manavir Rai highlighted that despite the absence of a high-level investigation committee for the gold smuggling case, their protests are ongoing. He asserted that the government’s response has not been adequate and mentioned that the country has been exposed to international ridicule due to the mishandling of the situation.
He mentioned, “Our country has become a transit point for gold trafficking. But the Home Minister and Prime Minister are not paying attention to this. Even Nepali individuals going abroad for foreign employment are found smuggling gold. The issue needs to be taken seriously. However, when quintals of gold are brought in, the CCTV cameras of the customs office don’t seem to notice. The police and revenue departments seem blind to it.”
He also expressed his suspicions about the impact of power on not prosecuting those involved in the gold smuggling case, including former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and his son-in-law. “The detailed conversations, even more than two hundred times, with the smuggler, are publicly known. But there’s no prosecution. Why isn’t there any? Is it because of the influence of power?” he questioned.
The main opposition party, NCP (Maoist), after their protest, has caused the parliamentary session to be postponed. Following their demand for the formation of a high-level investigation committee for the quintal gold smuggling case and their uproar after staging a walkout, the session has been postponed.
Speaker Devraj Ghimire had urged for cooperation to move ahead with the parliamentary business. However, despite his plea, NCP lawmakers did not back down from their stance, leading Speaker Ghimire to announce the postponement of the session until Bhadra 3 (August 19).
NCP lawmakers had warned that unless the high-level investigation committee is formed, they won’t let the parliament function.
The demand for the investigation committee means that the parliament won’t function until at least August 10.
On August 3, a quintal of gold seized from the Tribhuvan International Airport was handed over to the Revenue Investigation Department. After nearly three weeks of investigation, the Revenue Investigation Department handed over the responsibility of the investigation to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police.
Today, the amount of gold seized will be measured, and once it’s measured, we will know how much gold there is.
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