Fifteen of the 16 defendants remanded to custody in the fake Bhutanese refugees case by the Kathmandu District Court have approached the Patan High Court seeking their release on general date.
Hearing the applications filed by the 15 defendants, the Patan High Court has sought all the documents related to the case including the Kathmandu District Court’s order.
Mandira Shahi, spokesperson for the Patan High Court, said that the defendants have filed separate applications.
Former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand had approached the court on Friday. The court has ordered detailed reports of their cases too.
The Kathmandu District Court had remanded 16 people arrested in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugees scam to custody and released three others on bail.
Among the 16, all but Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal have approached the Patah High Court against the Kathmandu District Court’s decision.
Former deputy prime minister Rayamajhi, former home minister Khand, former home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, former Constituent Assembly member Ang Tawa Sherpa, Sanu Bhandari, Keshav Dulal, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Indrajit Rai, Sandeep Rayamajhi, Narendra KC, Govinda Kumar Chaudhary, Ram Sharan KC, Shamsher Miya, Hari Bhakta Maharjan and Bhutanese refugee leader Rizal are currently in custody.
The court had ordered Tanka Gurung, Laxmi Maharjan and Keshav Tuladhar to deposit Rs 1 million, Rs 500,000 and Rs 1.5 million, respectively, as bail amount. Tuladhar had posted his bail amount, but he was arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police for investigation into his alleged involvement in the Baluwatar land grab scam.
The District Government Attorney’s Office, Kathmandu, had filed cases of fraud, document forgery, crime against the state, and organized crime against 30 individuals in the fake Bhutanese refugees case on May 24.
