Indian National and Airport Cleaner Arrested in Separate Incidents Involving Smuggled Gold at Tribhuvan International Airport

Kathmandu. An Indian national and a sanitation worker (sweeper) employed at the airport have been arrested for possessing illegal gold at Tribhuvan International Airport. The Airport Security Office took them into custody in connection with two separate incidents.

On Wednesday morning around 10:00 AM, 49-year-old Indian national Abu Barkat Kudrate Khuda Kazi, who arrived in Kathmandu from Dubai via a Flydubai flight, was detained by police on suspicion. During the check, as there was suspicion that he had concealed gold inside his rectum, he was made to defecate in the toilet.

During this process, a yellowish, cylindrical, semi-solid metal lump weighing approximately 100 grams was recovered from his body. The Indian national, who attempted to smuggle gold illegally by evading customs duty, has been handed over to the police for necessary action.

Similarly, 40-year-old Dik Bahadur Raut, a sanitation employee of Sungabha Sagarmatha Service Pvt. Ltd., who attempted to take gold out by bypassing the airport's internal security system, was also arrested. On Tuesday morning, while collecting garbage from a dustbin inside the airport and attempting to exit, the bag of garbage he was carrying was screened at the police checking post.

During this process, pieces of a 4.4-gram gold chain hidden inside the garbage were found, leading the police to detain Raut. Police Superintendent Rajkumar Silwal informed that further investigation is underway regarding both incidents.