MORANG, May 4: Some 200 meters from Urlabari Chowk toward Pashupati Marga is an old, white house . The lower story of the house is rented by two families while the upper storey is unoccupied most of the time. The owner visits the upper story just two or three times a year, carries out some work there and leaves quietly without much interaction with neighbors or anyone else. The house belongs to Chudamani Upreti aka Gore, the alleged mastermind behind the smuggling of 33 kilograms of gold and a related murder case.
Gore is the eldest son of Netra Upreti of Itahara, Ratuwamai Municipality. He completed his primary education at Saraswati High School, Itahara. One of his former teachers described him as being negligent in his studies. His father was a policeman and Gore was admitted to the Police School in Dharan after reaching grade three.
He was later admitted to Urlabari Campus. There also his studies were indifferent and so his father got him to apply for the Nepal Army. He was accepted. However, he skipped the training and made it to Dubai, where he stayed for two years.
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When he returned from Dubai, Gore stopped all interactions with relatives and neighbors. According to his neighbors, Gore does not even acknowledge their greetings. He has ancestral land at Katnu, Itahara and a house in Urlabari.
Gore and Sanam Shakya, also from Urlabari, were the same age. Though they rarely spoke to one another, Sanam worked for Gore as a porter. Sanam was allegedly murdered by Gore after he failed to transport gold to an assigned locality, according to a police officer involved in the murder investigations.
Gore had instructed Sanam to take the gold to a business establishment. However, the businessman told Gore that he did not receive it, following which the murder took place.
Gore had stayed for four days at Kamashya Hotel in Damak prior to the murder . According to police involved in the investigations, Gore ordered food from outside the hotel during his stay there.
Those involved in the murder had plotted the crime from that same hotel, claimed police sources. Police suspect that Gore left for Dubai via Delhi two days prior to the murder.
