The voice in an audio recording linking Nepali Congress lawmaker Arzu Rana Deuba with the fake Bhutanese refugees scam has been found to match that of Sandesh Sharma.
The 34-year-old Sharma, who hails from Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City-16, Dang, is currently in custody. The District Police Range, Teku, is investigating him on charges of fraud and organized crime.
Rana had filed a complaint with the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police demanding an investigation into the audio recording, which she claimed to be fake.
In a letter to the applicant made public on Sunday, Deputy Inspector General Kuber Kadayat at the Nepal Police Headquarters has stated that the voice in the audio recording matched Sharma’s.
Kadayat has said in the letter that they had written to TikTok Singapore for information on where and from whom the audio had originated but that they had yet to receive further details.
Kadayat told Setopati that they wrote to Rana as she had submitted an application inquiring about the progress being made on her earlier application lodged with the Cyber Bureau. He added that they do not know how the letter was made public.
On May 7, Setopati had reported that an audio recording claiming that money was paid to Rana and Manju Khand in the fake Bhutanese refugees scam had been made public.
The audio recording of one minute and three seconds purportedly between a member of the racket involved in the scam and a victim claims that Rana and Khand—both Nepali Congress (NC) lawmakers and wives of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and NC leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand, respectively—were also paid by the racket. The recording claims that Rana was paid Rs 25 million and Khand Rs 60 million.
Rana had then lodged a complaint with the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police on May 10 demanding an investigation into the audio recording and action against the culprits.
