The Kathmandu District Court has extended police custody of 12 accused in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam including Nepali Congress (NC) leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand by four days starting Saturday.
The District Government Attorney Office, Kathmandu sought a four-day extension of the arrested accused with an aim to complete investigation within the next four days, and the court granted the extension.
The District Government Attorney Office on Sunday has taken statement of Khand’s personal assistant Narendra KC, who was also arrested along with Khand on Wednesday, according to Chief of the District Government Attorney Office Achyut Mani Neupane.
Neupane said that statement of Khand would be taken on Monday while that of others had also been almost completed.
Police have arrested former home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s security advisor Indrajit Rai, CPN-UML Secretary and lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi’s son Sandeep, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, and Tanka Kumar Gurung in connection to the scam. Ram Sharan KC and Govinda Chaudhary, who have been accused of acting as middlemen in the scam, were arrested on Tuesday.
UML Secretary Rayamajhi, UML Vice-chairman Ram Bahadur Thapa’s son Prateek and son of Indrajit Rai, Niraj, are absconding after issue of arrest warrant.
