Pardafas Reporter
Santosh Chandra Bakheral, operator of Kathmandu based Being Human's authorised outlet standing in front of the confiscated branded liquors he allegedly smuggled in the country from India.Photo: Nepal Police
Operator of Being Human’s authorized outlet in Kathmandu, Santosh Chandra Bakhrel,39, has been arrested on the charge of tax evasion and smuggling of various liquor brands from India to Nepal and covertly selling them in Kathmandu.
Being Human is a non-profit foundation established by Bollywood’s superstar Salman Khan. When people buys the clothes from their outlets famously called as ‘Being Human Clothing’, some part of the money goes to the welfare of child education and Medicare. Salman Khan, had supported its establishment in Nepal following the 2015 earthquake to support children in Nepal. Bakharel, who lived in Kapan area of Kathmandu and hailed from Sarlahi district had recently transferred the ownership of the Being Human Clothing to his name.
The Metropolitan Crime Division, Kathmandu had undergone a secretive mission called 'Operation Lima' after receiving a tip off that Bakhrel's group was illegally selling liquor from India. Police said that the group was assisted by an Indian citizen named Ravi from India to smuggle expensive alchohol in the country.
According to Chief of the Division, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, four persons along with Bakhrel involved in liquor fraud have been arrested. Others arrested in the case are Shailesh Pant, 30, of Kageshwari Manhara-6 in Kathmandu, Rabin Pakhrin, 28, of Handigaun in Kathmandu and Narayan Prasad Ghimire, 28, residing in Chabahil from Sarlahi district have been arrested.
According to SSP Kunwar, they were found to be smuggling red label, black label, absolute vodka, Chivas Regal and other brands of liquor from India to Nepal. They were arrested from different places of Kathmandu valley like Ramkot, Baneshwor and Kapan area on Friday.
According to the department, 296 cartons of liquor have also been recovered. The department has also said that they have sent some sample of the liquor for quality test to check whether the liquor is counterfeit or not. Police also said that Bakhrel had already sold 160 cartoons of similar expensive alchoholic dricks for the first time, 200 cartoons for the second time and 300 cartoons for the third time a few months ago.
Bakhrel had been working with Shailesh Pant, the operator of Infinity Liquor at Mulpani in Kathmandu to sale the illegal product in the market. Similarly, Narayan Prasad Ghimire another accomplice in the case used to sell the branded liquor by convincing the customers that it is duty free and came at cheaper price.
Police said that large market of the tax evaded liquor are the party palaces in the Kathmandu. The estimated market value of the seized liquor is Rs 15 million. Those arrested have been sent to Revenue Investigation Department, Lalitpur for further investigation and action, police said.
