Kathmandu July 7 : Gold weighing an additional 43 tola has been discovered in the basement of the Garbhagriha (sanctum ) of the Pashupatinath Temple on Friday morning.

This additional gold was found in the portion of the jalhari (water spout) installed in the Garbhagriha.

Dr. Ghanshyam Khatiwada, the director of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, informed NepalPage that the search for gold is still ongoing but did not disclose the exact quantity of the newly discovered gold. He said, “We are still in the process of exploration. We can determine the quantity only after further investigation.”

The total weight of the jalhari, which is made of 107 kg 924.74 grams of gold, installed in the Garbhagriha of Pashupatinath, has not been fully recovered yet. After the investigation by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) revealed misuse of power, the gold jalhari installed during the tenure of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was also being examined.

During the investigation, it was found that nearly half a kilogram of gold was missing when the jalhari was removed. However, earlier, lawmakers from the Nepal Communist Party(Maoist Center) had accused of corruption by alleging that 10 kg of gold from the jalhari had disappeared.

The exact calculation of the gold used in the jalhari is still pending. In this process, an additional 43 tolas of gold were extracted from the Garbhagriha.

Only a few days ago, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had kept the representatives of the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, National Investigation Department, Department of Archaeology, Guthi Sansthan, and representatives of the gold and silver business community present during the inspection of the jalhari. At that time, it was found that nearly half a kilogram of gold was missing.