KATHMANDU, March 24: The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed another committee to take action against the police officers implicated in gold smuggling due to serious negligence in their investigative duties.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, a committee has been formed for further investigation and recommended action by the commission against the then AIG Kiran Bajracharya, the head of CIB, for protecting those who should have been prosecuted in the gold smuggling case. Along with this, departmental action has also been recommended against SP Sanjay Singh Thapa, DSP Durga Dahal, and Rugam Kunwar, who investigated the case.
According to home ministry Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, a three-member committee led by Joint Secretary Bharatmani Rijal from the Law Division includes Nepal Police DIG Bhim Prasad Dhakal and Under Secretary Ram Bahadur Shahi from the Police Administration Section of the home ministry.
Spokesperson Bhattarai said that the Rijal-led committee will review the report presented by the High-Level Gold Smuggling Investigation Commission and determine appropriate punitive actions.
Probe struggles to trace political nexus in gold smuggling
On March 14, the commission, chaired by former High Court Chief Judge Dilli Raj Acharya, submitted a report to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. The report highlighted the recommendation that four police officers from the CIB should face departmental action and be transferred from their assigned investigative roles.
According to this, all four people recommended for departmental action have been removed from their responsibilities and transferred to the police headquarters. The Commission has alleged that they let a key person involved in gold smuggling, Jiwan Chalaune, escape deliberately. They have been accused of bringing him to the CIB but letting him go in the end.
