Kathmandu: Rahul Mahara, the son of former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, was ordered by the Kathmandu District Court on Friday to be sent to jail for judicial custody in connection with a case of gold smuggling.
A single bench of Judge Dandapani Sharma decided to send Rahul to jail until the case reached its conclusion. According to the court, Lokendra Bahadur Paudel, another defendant, was granted release on a bail of Rs 500,000.
Rahul was arrested by police on August 30, following allegations of smuggling nine kilograms of gold, supposedly concealed in e-cigarettes, in December last year. The Kathmandu District Attorney Office had filed a case against four individuals, including Rahul, for organized crime on Wednesday.
The investigation was initiated after a recommendation from the Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) to arrest those involved in the smuggling of the gold, concealed within e-cigarettes, which had been pilfered from the customs office warehouse.
Police investigations revealed the involvement of the Mahara father-son duo, who were allegedly in frequent communication with a Chinese national engaged in gold smuggling, concealing gold within e-cigarette shipments.
Despite the allegations, the Maharas have continuously denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier, the police had questioned the senior Mahara, who is also a vice-chair of the ruling party CPN (Maoist Centre), about his connections to Chinese smugglers and the gold smuggling.
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