KATHMANDU: The Money Laundering Department has initiated an investigation on four Chinese and one Nepali who were arrested with around 40 million Nepali rupees on Tuesday.

The Department has initiated an investigation by taking them on a 15-day remand from the court.

It may be recalled that four Chinese nationals were arrested on Tuesday with undeclared cash of Rs 40 million at Nagdhunga, a major checkpoint entering the capital Kathmandu.

Nepal Police arrested them with the undeclared cash from a car they were traveling in at Nagdhunga, in Kathmandu in the course of regular screening.

According to police, Rs. 38.9 million in cash was recovered from four Chinese nationals and one Nepali national.

A joint team deployed by Nagdhunga Police and Narcotics Control Bureau recovered the amount from the trunk of BA B 5710 Subaru car arriving in Kathmandu from Nuwakot. The large cache of money had been hidden in plastic bags in the trunk of the car.

Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau in their civil uniforms approached the car after growing suspicious of illegal drugs in the vehicle. In the course of screening, such a huge amount in cash was received at a time when the liquidity crisis is high in the country.

The arrested are Ful Bahadur Gurung, 44, of Bidur Municipality-8 and four Chinese nationals.

The arrested Chinese nationals have been identified as Auang Zaiking, 50, Zhan Tu, 49, Meng Yun Shun, 31, and Maujian Hua, 26.

Of the seized 38.9 million rupees, Rs. 36.4 million was found in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 2.5 million in the denomination of Rs 500. Other smaller amounts in the denomination of Rs 100 and 20 were also found, police said.

Police have impounded the car and handed over the arrested along with the seized cash to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation in Pulchowk, Kathmandu, for investigation.

Sources have claimed that they had withdrawn the amount from Himalayan Bank.