It has been exactly 85 days, around 250 million illegal foreign currency was found in the Tokha of Kathmandu. The Revenue Investigation Department has already registered a case in the Kathmandu District Court on May 2, stating that Kusang Lama and Narayan Poudel of Sindhupalchok Bhotekoshi rural municipality, who are also the drivers of the truck, are the owners of such a large amount of illegal foreign currency hidden in the false bottom of the container (truck) number No. 7 Kha 1652.
Even after three months of the incident, the police have not been able to find any information about the main accused Narayan Paudel. Under the Foreign Exchange (Regulation) Act, 2019, when the court ordered the driver Lama to be detained pending trial, where is Paudel, who is said to be the owner of the money?
According to the police, Paudel is not in Nepal. "According to our investigation, it appears that Paudel left Nepal and went to India on the same day," said Kazi Kumar Acharya, information officer of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office. He may have gone there .'
The police have issued a red corner notice and searched for him, but the progress is zero . The police officers themselves are not aware of this matter .
Earlier, the police raided Poudel's house in Tokha-10, Mahadeotar Height. A police officer said that it is easy for criminals to escape when the revenue investigation department has full authority to investigate such matters and not the police. In this incident, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office arrested Kusang Lama with 13 million 69 thousand 150 Euros and 320 thousand 850 US dollars and handed over the Lama along with the truck to the Revenue Investigation Department.
Before the money was recovered, the driver Lama and Poudel were in contact on the phone hundreds of times. It seems that the mobile phone used by Lama Poudel has been contacted 28 times . In the call detail report, it is seen that Neupane switched off the mobile from the Tokha Balkumari Temple on the same night. Soon after, it is seen that Lama and Paudel's driver Hari Bahadur Bhandari had 169 phone calls. But Lama said that the reason for calling Paudel was because the car broke down on the way.
On that day, Lama contacted his brother Gyamjo Sherpa 139 times, his sister-in-law Diwang Sherpa 16 times and his wife Damu Sherpa 74 times in the call detail report presented in the court. On the other hand, Paudel contacted his driver Hari Bahadur Bhandari by phone 267 times. Sagun called KC 73 times, son Dipesh Paudel's mobile phone 213 times, brother Rajkumar Paudel's mobile phone Saroj Koirala 20 times.
Kushang Lama, the former driver, had already spent 5 years in jail for revenue evasion and gold smuggling. People who know him say that Poudel is controversial and close to the smuggling network.
