Nepali Congress (NC) leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand has been arrested in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam.
Khand has been arrested from his residence Wednesday morning, according to a top Nepal Police source. Khand’s associate Narendra KC has also been arrested.
An audio recording claiming that money was paid to Khand’s wife Manju Khand in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam has already been made public.
Police arrested Khand without getting an arrest warrant from the court suspecting he could abscond like CPN-UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi who is fugitive after the Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrant in his name.
The police held a discussion about whether to get the arrest warrant or not after concluding that Khand needs to be arrested in the scam. They then decided to arrest him by handing just an arrest memo from the police fearing he may abscond like Rayamajhi.
“We have arrested him with an arrest memo concluding that the information about us going to the court for an arrest warrant could have been leaked and it could have been difficult to nab him,” the Nepal Police source stated.
The police team then reached his residence with the arrest memo. Khand locked himself inside the house for a while after knowing that the team had arrived. Khand has been taken to the Kathmandu Police Range Teku. The police are preparing to go to the Kathmandu District Court to seek an arrest warrant.
The police said additional arrests could be made within the next couple of days.
CPN-UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and son of UML Vice-chairman Ram Bahadur Thapa are absconding after issue of arrest warrants.
Names of NC leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand, his wife and NC lawmaker Manju Khand and NC lawmaker Arzu Rana Deuba—wife of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba—have also been dragged in the scam.
