Appeals Court Adds 10 Years to Sentence for Key Figure in 33kg Gold Smuggling and Sanam Shakya Murder Case

Kathmandu. The High Court in Biratnagar has sentenced Chudamani Upreti, also known as 'Gore', who was already serving a life sentence from the Morang District Court, to an additional 10 years in prison for the murder of Sanam Shakya. The order was issued by a joint bench comprising High Court judges Mahendranath Upadhyaya and Prakashchandra Adhikari.

The then-judge of the Morang District Court, Bharat Lamsal, had ruled that there was insufficient evidence for the gold smuggling charge, sentencing only 8 individuals for the murder of Sanam Shakya. Gore's group tortured and killed Sanam Shakya in Morang, accusing him of making the smuggled gold 'disappear'.

The court had sentenced 'Gore' and five others to life imprisonment for the murder of Sanam in Urlabari, Morang, on February 18, 2074 BS. Those sentenced to life imprisonment include Chudamani Upreti 'Gore', Tekraj Malla Thakuri, Lakpa Sherpa, Mohan Kafle, Narendra Karki, and Bhojraj Bhandari. Rajan Kumar was sentenced to 3 years and Madhav alias Madan Prasad Ghimire to 6 months for the murder of Shakya.

The High Court in Biratnagar reduced the sentences for accused Narendra Karki, Mohan Kafle, and Bhojraj Bhandari to 10 years each. Reversing the district court's decision, the court sentenced accused Madan Silwal, who was involved as an accomplice in the culpable homicide case, to only three years in prison. The district court's verdict was upheld for accused Lakpa Sherpa and Bhavin Tamang.

• What was the incident?

It is reported that 33 kg of gold smuggled by Chudamani Upreti 'Gore's group via a Fly Dubai flight exited Tribhuvan International Airport's Golden Gate. However, the gold went missing midway. In February 2074 BS, the carriers 'reported' to the smuggling group that the gold, looted near Ratna Rajya School in Kathmandu, had been stolen. Among the carriers, Sanu Ban, a senior technician at Thai Airways, allegedly committed suicide by being hit by a moving tanker's wheel at the airport on Magh 22, 2074 BS.

Prior to that, Chudamani Upreti 'Gore's group tortured Sanam Shakya of Urlabari, Morang, to retrieve the supposedly lost gold. Shakya died from severe torture in the forests of Dharan and Morang. Gore, the leader of the smuggling group, informed Police Sub-Inspector Balkrishna Sanjel of the Crime Investigation Bureau about Shakya's death due to torture. DSP Prajit KC and others from the Metropolitan Crime Investigation Bureau traveled eastward from Kathmandu.

After recovering Sanam's body from Dharan, they transported it to Biratnagar. The committee questioned the role of the then SSP Diwesh Lohani of the Bureau, alleging he ordered the crime scene of the body recovery to be altered. Consequently, Lohani also became embroiled in controversy.

The committee led by Joint Secretary Ishwarraj Poudel conducted an investigation for about 3 months, but the 33 kg of gold was never found. However, the committee's report identified major players involved in the gold smuggling, including Bimal Poddar, the owner of Silver City Apartment in Dillibazar, Bhujung Gurung, a leader of RPP (Democratic), and Mohan Agarwal.

It was reported that Mohan Agarwal used to purchase about 75% of the gold smuggled by Gore. The committee's report also mentioned that Poddar had long been sending smuggled gold to India via Janakpur. The gold allegedly looted near Ratna Rajya School in Kathmandu was claimed to have been found in Kolkata, India, in Poush 2075 BS. However, no initiative was taken to bring that gold back to Nepal.

The Indian DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) recovered 33 kg of gold on December 7, 2018, at the Dankuni toll plaza on the Delhi-Kolkata highway. India sent a letter to the Consul General in Kolkata stating that two Nepalis were arrested along with the gold found during a search of a Maruti Swift car.