Pokhara, Nepal – The Kaski District Police Office has arrested two individuals one Indian and one Nepali in possession of illegally imported gold ornaments worth approximately NPR 13.04 million.

According to District Police Chief Shyam Babu Oliya, the individuals were intercepted based on a confidential tip-off while traveling from Pokhara to Butwal in a microbus near Pumdibhumdi, Ward-22, Pokhara Metropolitan City. The suspects have been identified as Kuldeep Singh (49) from Punjab, India, and Ram Bahadur BK (47) from Rupandehi, Nepal.

The seized items include a large quantity of gold ornaments:

• 82 tola, 16 lal (approx. 960 grams) in total
• Items such as necklaces, rings (some with stones/diamonds), earrings, mangalsutra, lockets, and beaded malas
• Specific quantities include:
  • 29 gold chains (10 tola 31 lal)
  • 57 stone/diamond-studded rings (10 tola 54 lal)
  • 324 earrings (162 pairs – 27 tola 63 lal)
  • 99 lockets (13 tola 12 lal), among others

Preliminary investigation revealed that Kuldeep Singh and Ram Bahadur BK had known each other via Facebook for the past three years, and were both involved in the gold ornament business. Kuldeep had been operating in various Indian states UP, Bihar, Odisha, Delhi, Haryana and had recently planned to expand operations into Nepal.

The gold was reportedly procured through a gold shop owned by a merchant located in Amritsar, India, and brought to Nepal for illegal sale. BK had joined Singh in Pokhara on the condition of receiving payment after successful sale of the items.

The two suspects were handed over to the Revenue Investigation Office in Butwal for further investigation and legal proceedings under Nepal’s revenue and customs laws.