Eight years ago, Chudamani upreti 'Gore', known as 'Gold Dawn' among the smugglers, called some police officers and asked for help in handling the body saying that a member of his group had been killed. After Sanam Shakya of Morang, Urlabari was electrocuted while trying to find the missing 33 kg gold, he appealed to the police.

Some even suggested to throw the body in the river and escape, but the team of the Valley Crime Investigation Office started a 'covert operation' based on the information. Mama used to call the 'white' police officers. The "uncles" headed east, promising support. By the time the team reached Itahari from Kathmandu, the 'whites' had taken Sanam's body to Dharan.

As heard in the audio-record of the conversation with the police, "Gore" offered 20 million for helping in the management of the dead body. However, something else was going on in the mind of the 'Mama' of 'Gore'. The then Divisional Chief SSP Divesh Lohani was planning to catch a big fish of gold smuggling.

'The plan was to keep dealing with him until the police reached him and catch him when he met him,' claims one of the team's officers. After that, the plan of the police who were engaged in a secret operation was foiled, because of that case, it was revealed that about 38 quintals of gold was smuggled from Tribhuvan International Airport in four and a half years.

• 33 kg gold smuggling report 'missing' for 5 years

After handing over the body to Tekraj Malla of the smuggling group, the 'white' fled to Assam, India with the promise of settling 50 lakhs and his family in Kathmandu. The police made several attempts to call him back. The police came to Ithari with the body of the murdered Sanam in the car. After keeping the dead body in Dicky, he spent a day and night in a hotel. However, when it was confirmed that 'Gore' would not come, Scorpio was taken from Itahari to Biratnagar.

Until then, the policeman was driving the car with the dead body. Behind was the then DSP Prajit KC's car, when they reached Pokharia in Morang, suddenly KC's car hit the car with the dead body. And, they also called the team of District Police Office, Morang. After that, Morang police started further investigation. However, when Malla started telling the local police and relatives that he was "trapped" by the white man, then the family lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

What is the 33 kg gold smuggling and Sanam Shakya murder case? After the

, a high-level investigation committee was formed under the leadership of Joint Secretary Ishwarraj Paudel, and a case was also launched against the investigating police officers, including the 'whites'. As the gold was not recovered, all were acquitted except those accused in Sanam's murder, while the 'whites' are serving their sentences in the Central Jail, Sundhara. However, while the investigation committee was trying to catch the Nike behind the scenes of gold smuggling, it was instructed to submit the report. The Poudel Commission proposed to the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli that more time was needed for further investigation, but Oli instructed him to submit the report. Before that, the then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' had announced that they were going to catch a 'big fish'.

Officials of the inquiry committee listed 293 people in their report for further investigation. Since then, that report has disappeared. Later, when the UML was out of government and the government was headed by a Maoist chairman, an extensive search was made for the report, but none of the reports were found in Singhdarbar and Baluwatar. According to officials, Prime Minister Oli became dissatisfied after the arrest of businessman Bimal Poddar on June 6, 2075. The investigation committee had made preparations saying that they could reach even higher levels through him.

A huge smuggling racket busted after 33 kg of gold was investigated. And, for a long time, no large amount of gold was smuggled through the airport. After that, the smugglers started making the northern route a gold smuggling route. However, on 2nd July 2080, a team of the Revenue Investigation Department recovered 60 kg of gold smuggled from Tribhuvan International Airport by hiding it inside the brake pad of a motorcycle.

During the investigation, it was revealed that a group of Chinese nationals were smuggling gold by building godowns in Baluwatar, Lazimpat, Nayabazar and other areas. After 19 days, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) took over the investigation of this case. During the investigation, it was revealed that the Chinese nationals involved in gold smuggling were smuggling in an organized manner based on political connections. Later, it was alleged that the police officers had given immunity to former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, his son Rahul, two sons of former Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Jitendra and Dipen, the then foreign affairs expert of the former Vice President Jeevan Gurung, Joint Secretary Jhalakram Adhikari, Jeevan Chagane and others.

Among these, Mahara father and son were also involved in the smuggling case of 9 and a half kilos of gold smuggled from Dubai on December 10, 2079. Later, a commission of inquiry headed by former judge Dilliraj Acharya also recommended action against the CIB officials and recommended an investigation against Mahara. After the change of leadership of CIB, some accused were arrested, for the second time the police started the case in this case. However, the report of the Acharya Commission has not yet been fully implemented. One of the members says, "We had given many more names for further investigation, we also made important recommendations to stop smuggling."

According to officials of the inquiry committee, gold smuggling has been going on in Nepal since the Panchayat period. At that time, underground gangs of courtiers were active in smuggling, and after 2046, even the names of Congress and Communists were sometimes crossed. In the Panchayat, one of the leaders of RPP was popularly known as 'Soon Budha'. When he was caught with a red passport with gold, he had campaigned saying 'everyone in the village will wear one bulaki'. Although this is an old story, the names of leaders have not stopped being associated with smuggling even recently.

While giving a statement to the high-level gold investigation committee, RPP leader Bhujung Gurung also disclosed that he has been smuggling gold since 2040. Gurung said that although he stopped smuggling for a long time, he started smuggling gold again in 2069 after meeting Mohan Kumar Agarwal, Chudamani upreti 'Gore' and others.