New Delhi: The former speaker of the lower house of the Nepali parliament has been arrested in connection with a gold smuggling case. Krishna Bahadur Mahara was arrested from Kapilvastu and brought to Kathmandu by plane on Monday.
The police said that Mahara, who is also the vice president of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), will be kept in custody only for the time being and will be presented in court for an extension of custody at a later date, according to a report by the Kathmandu Post.
The arrest of Mahara came after Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane ordered the police to probe gold smuggling and Mahara’s alleged role in it.