33 kg gold smuggling case: 6 including main accused Gore sentenced to life imprisonment

KATHMANDU: The Morang District Court sentenced  life imprisonment to six persons accused in the 33 kg gold smuggling case and the subsequent murder of Sanam Shakya, an alleged carrier of smuggled gold.

A single bench of Justice Bharat Kamsal awarded life sentences to main accused Chudamani Upreti aka Gore, Tej Raj Malla Thakuri, Lakpa Sherpa, Mohan Kafle, Narendra Karki and Bhoj Raj Bhandari. Similarly, the court sentenced Rajan Kumar and Madan Ghimire to three years and six months respectively in prison.

Similarly, the court acquitted as many as 56 persons in the gold smuggling case.

The court gave them a clean chit due to lack of enough evidence.

As many as 77 persons were made defendants in the gold smuggling case. Of them, 21 are on the run.

The 33kg gold smuggled through the Tribhuvan International Airport had disappeared mysteriously from Kathmandu before reaching its intended destination in 2017.