KATHMANDU, MAY 14

Kathmandu District Court has ordered four more days of judicial custody for all 12 of the accused who have been arrested in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.

Kathmandu District Government Attorney's Office, upon request from the police for final four days of judicial custody of the accused for investigation into the case, granted the same.

Custody of those arrested including former home minister Bal Krishna Khand, has been extended.

Deepak Dahal, KDC spokesperson said, 'The court has granted four more days to the police to investigate the case.'

Achyutmani Neupane joint-attorney of the KD- GAO told THT that police will now have to complete the investigation and file the case by May 17.

All of the accused are facing charges of organised crime, which allows police a time of 60 days to complete investigation keeping the accused behind bars.

Today is the 51st day since police made the first arrest on March 26 of Sanu Bhandari, Tek Gurung, and Keshav Dulal, the persons who revealed the scam linking top political leaders, ministers and government officials.

Neupane, however said that since government attorneys would need time to prepare documents before the 60th day, they wanted police to finish the investigation a few days earlier.

'This will be the final time police will be seeking further extension of custody,' Neuapane said.

Former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's adviser Indrajit Rai, Nepal Government Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, UML leader and former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi's son Sandeep Rayamajhi, racketeers Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Tek Gurung, Sagar Thulung Rai, and others accused in the case are currently in judicial custody.

Former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has also been arrested.

A racket on a grand scale was masterminded by thugs and middle men, on the basis of a task force formed by KP Sharma Oliled government to study and gather evidence about those who were left out of the Bhutanese refugee registration process.

It is said the committee was formed with the purpose of repatriating them to third countries mainly the United States.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 15, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.