KATHMANDU: The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police is currently conducting an investigation into the alleged involvement of the sons of three influential leaders with a legacy tied to the Maoist movement in a case involving 60 kg of gold.

Deepesh Pun, the son of former Vice President Nanda Kishor Pun; Rahul Mahara, the son of the Vice Chairman of the Maoist Center and former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara; and Pratik Thapa, the son of CPN-UML Vice Chairman and former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa were also known to be business partners.

Pratik Thapa is currently evading authorities due to his involvement in a fake refugee case.

Rahul holds the position of deputy general secretary within the Maoist youth organization YCL, while Dipesh serves as the general secretary of the party’s student organization ANNFSU (Revolutionary).

Prateek, the son of Ram Bahadur Thapa, is presently located outside the country, according to credible police sources.

Rahul Mahara was apprehended by the police at his residence in Khumaltar last Wednesday.

Following his arrest, he posted on Facebook that he would cooperate with the CIB during their investigation.

According to information from CIB sources, Rahul’s potential involvement in the 60 kg gold case has come to light.

Rahul had reportedly made repeated contacts with the customs chief at the airport in an attempt to gather information about the 9 kg of gold concealed by a Chinese group in a vape device.

Furthermore, former Speaker Mahara had discussions with the customs chief to understand the auction process related to the aforementioned vape device.

The CIB’s investigation has uncovered connections between the Mahara father and son and the gold smuggling network.

The investigation report includes a linkage chart that highlights the involvement of the Mahara father and son.

In the case involving the 9 kg of gold found in the vape device, those responsible for stealing the gold from airport customs have been arrested, but the smuggling group itself remains at large.

The CIB has also identified a close relationship between Prateek, who is evading authorities in the fake refugee case, and the group responsible for importing 60 kg of gold.

It has been revealed that these three leaders’ sons had previously engaged in gold importation alongside this group.

Rahul, who is currently in custody, is being investigated by the CIB, while Deepesh appeared before the CIB on Monday and provided a statement that lasted for three hours. During his statement, he denied any involvement in the gold case.

A Belgian citizen, Dawa Chiring, who is considered a central figure in the gold case, was apprehended by a team from the Revenue Investigation Department.

Up until then, the authorities were unaware of any political connections.

CIB sources have indicated that the link between the sons of the three leaders was established when they examined the mobile phones belonging to Dawa and his associates.

Dawa’s wife, Amala Roka Magar, had familial ties with Maoist leaders Barshaman Pun and Nandkishor Pun.

Initially, they claimed that their relationship with Amala was solely a family ties.

However, Dawa’s connection with the Maoist leaders was facilitated through Amala.

It’s worth noting that the Maoists have held political power in Nepal since 2016.

During this time, the relationships between Rahul, Dipesh, Prateek, and Dawa deepened.

At that time, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Rahul’s father, was the Speaker of the house, Nandkishore Pun, Dipesh’s father, was the Vice President, and Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal,’ Prateek’s father, was the Home Minister.

Initially, authorities seized brake shoes that had passed inspection at the Tribhuvan International Customs Office based on a tip from the Revenue Investigation Department.

Inside one of the brake shoes, which had arrived from Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight under the name of Ready Trade Pvt., a total of 60 kg 616 grams of gold were discovered.

While the initial investigation was conducted by the Department, the case is now under the jurisdiction of the CIB, which is treating it as organized crime.

The police have also enlisted the assistance of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to investigate this multi-country case involving three nations.

The CIB has dispatched Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dinesh Acharya to Hong Kong and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dharmaraj Bhandari to India for further investigation.

The CIB’s chief, Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Kiran Bajracharya, is overseeing the investigation. Initially, Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjay Singh Thapa led the CIB’s investigation, but now a team of 30 individuals is actively working on the case.

In cases involving organized crime, the police are allowed 60 days to detain and investigate the accused.

Within this timeframe, both the police and the public prosecutor’s office are responsible for completing the prosecution process and filing the case in court.

As of now, it has been 50 days since the investigation began on July 2nd. The CIB is under pressure to conclude its investigation within a week and submit the case to the public prosecutor’s office.

To date, a total of 27 individuals have been arrested in connection with this case, including Nepali, Chinese, Belgian, and Indian citizens.