Absconding CPN-UML lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has written to the Parliament Secretariat informing that he has been taken ill. Rayamajhi has been absconding ever since an arrest warrant was issued for him in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugees scam.
According to a source, Rayamajhi’s letter has reached the Parliament Secretariat. “But his letter has not been registered,” a staffer at the Parliament Secretariat said.
UML suspended Rayamajhi as the party’s secretary earlier on Wednesday.
Issuing a statement, UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel informed about Rayamajhi’s suspension as party secretary.
Pokharel stated that Rayamajhi has been suspended from the post of party secretary until investigation and legal proceedings related to the case reach a conclusion so as to help with the investigation.
Rayamajhi, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Arghakhanchi, has been on the run ever since an arrest warrant was issued for him in connection with the scam.
Rayamajhi was attending an event in Arghakhanchi when the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant for him over his alleged involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam last Wednesday.
He had said that he would return to Kathmandu and help the police with their investigation. He had also said that he would contact the police and present himself in person at the District Police Range, Kathmandu, but he has been on the run since then.
The District Police Range, Kathmandu, has issued a circular across the country for his arrest.
A team of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has also been searching for him since Saturday as police suspect he may have fled to Lucknow, India. But his whereabouts are still unknown.
Police also searched Rayamajhi’s residence in Satdobato of Lalitpur on Tuesday.
Former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's son Prateek has also been absconding since an arrest warrant was issued for him in the case.
Police have so far arrested 12 people in connection with the scam that swindled tens of millions from Nepalis with the promise of sending them to America as Bhutanese refugees.
Those arrested are Rayamajhi’s son Sandeep, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Tek Narayan Pandey, Indrajit Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Sagar Rai, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Ram Sharan KC, Govinda Chaudhary, Nepali Congress leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand, and Khand's personal secretary Narendra KC.
Ram Sharan KC and Govinda Chaudhary were arrested on Tuesday while Khand and his personal secretary were arrested from Khand's residence in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.
