How smuggled gold enabled a couple to buy a house

Kathmandu, July 15: It is said that people who try to keep the truth hidden from others eventually get caught by their lies one day.

The same thing has happened to a couple who had been in the business of smuggling and illegal gold trading in the disguise of running a hotel.

Vinod Sah and his wife Sanju Kumari Sah of Balanbihul Rural Municipality-2, Chanhipatharah, in Saptari district, have been arrested on a charge of trading the gold smuggled to Nepal from abroad. 

The Sah couple became able to buy a house and run a hotel near Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, with the smuggled gold, a police investigation has revealed.  

The head of the Valley Crime Investigation Office and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr. Manoj KC revealed that they bought the Hotel Himalayan Spire located in Sinamangal-9 of Kathmandu with the money made from the trade of smuggled gold. 

According to the police, they bought the Hotel at Rs. 20.5 million just one year ago. The worth of the seized and the volume of gold they had so far smuggled on different dates stands at Rs. 2.50 billion, claimed police.  

Vinod and Sanju used to receive the gold here in Kathmandu sent by the smugglers’ gang living in Doha, Qatar.

This truth was revealed after the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, Min Bhawan, on July 9 detained 12 gold smugglers along with five migrant workers who were involved in the smuggling of gold as gold carriers from Qatar to Kathmandu. 

It has been found that some of the smuggled gold was sold in Kathmandu and the remaining was sent to Shiva Sundar Raut, of Lahan Municipality-4 of Siraha, who is also a gold trader and runs general stores there.

After taking the gold from the workers, they used to get their commission, said police. Police have also found that Sanju used to get various bank account numbers in her mobile phone sent by Shiva Sundar Raut, as well as concrete evidence that Vinod Kumar Sah used to send money to various accounts of Shiva Sundar Raut after the gold smuggling task got completed.

There is also evidence that transactions amounting to Rs. 21 million were made in Sanju’s bank account. 

What’s more, it has been revealed that her husband Vinod used to go to the airport to collect gold. He too received account numbers from Shiv Sundar Raut’s mobile phone and sent money to Raut’s account.

Similarly, it has been seen that Vinod had done a transaction of Rs. 415 million from his account while sending money to Raut’s account.

Nimai Sah, 56, to whom Vinod used to sell the smuggled gold, has also been arrested in connection with the case. Nimai, of Haripur Municipality-3, Sarlahi, temporarily residing in Bagbazaar, Kathmandu, has been found operating a jewellery shop at Bagbazaar named Suparna Jewelry. The Valley Crime Investigation Office recovered 46 tolas of gold from his shop.  

Sundar Raut, police have found, alone had made a transaction of Rs. 1.93 billion with the money earned from the selling of the gold sent by his agent in Kathmandu.   

SSP Dr. KC said that Raut has been identified as the main agent of Nepal in the business of gold smuggling from Qatar to Nepal. He has been operating Ritesh General Store.

Raut is also a remittance operator in Siraha. A police investigation has revealed that he used to collect the gold sold in Nepal and send it abroad again.

In the case, police have also arrested migrant workers Naresh Panjiyar, 34, of Dhanushadham Municipality-5 of Dhanusha, Dinesh Kumar Yadav, 24, of Partewa Municipality-17 of Siraha, Bhum Bahadur Oli, 36, of Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality-4, Banke, Sunil Kumar Mahara, 25, of Mithila Bihari Municipality-5 of Dhanusha, and Santa Gulam Muraw, 23, of Suddodhan Rural Municipality-6 of Kapilvastu.

Similarly, the police have arrested Devnandan Sah, 27, of Bodebarsain Municipality-1 of Saptari, and temporarily residing in Sinamangal-9 Kathmandu; Durga Prasad Yadav, 22, of Balanbihul Rural Municipality-6 of Saptari and temporarily residing in Thimi, Bhaktapur.

The police have arrested Oli for bringing 58 grams of gold hidden in his shoes. Panjiyar had also brought 58 grams of gold from Qatar and was caught by the police at the parking lot of the TIA on July 9. Panjiyar had concealed the gold in the neck collar of the shirt he was wearing. Similarly, Muraw was arrested for bringing the gold hiding in his shirt’s collar. 

Likewise, it was found that Devnanda Sah and Durga Prasad Yadav had also done transactions of Rs. 90.4 million and Rs. 90.98 million respectively from their accounts as per the instruction of Raut. 

The gang living in Doha used to send Nepali workers with smuggled gold when they prepared to return to Kathmandu, and in exchange for that, they gave them Rs. 5,000 rupees and managed free food and lodging in Kathmandu, SSP KC said. 

According to police, the gold racketeers in Qatar used to take photos of the person carrying gold and photocopies of passports with luggage and send them to Vinod and Sanju, based on which the couple would reach the airport to collect gold.