KATHMANDU, MAY 15
Kathmandu District Court today gave permission to police to detain Top Bahadur Rayamajhi for three more days in custody, to investigate his alleged involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.
A single bench of Judge Keshav Prasad Adhikari passed the order.
Rayamajhi was arrested last evening from a relative's house in Pasikot of Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu. He was on the run since May 3 after an arrest warrant was issued against him in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.
Immediately after his remand was extended, Rayamajhi recorded his statement in Kathmandu District Government Attorney Office. His statement will be taken to the court during hearing, which will most likely be held within this week.
The KDGAO has asked police not to demand further days of custody. Along with Rayamajhi, 12 other people involved in the case, including former home minister Bal Krishna Khand are in judicial custody. All of them face charges of fraud and organised crime. Police can detain accused offenders of organised crime for up to 60 days with permission from the court.
The district attorney's office has also instructed police to complete its investigation within the next three days and hand over the investigation report to them.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire today informed the House about the arrest of lawmaker Top Bahadur Rayamajhi representing the CPN-UML.
Apart from Khand and Rayamajhi, Khand's personnel aide Narendra KC, the former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's security adviser Indrajit Rai, Sandeep Rayamajhi, son of Top Bahadur, Tek Narayan Pandey, incumbent secretary, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Ram Sharan KC and Govinda Chaudhary have been arrested so far.
The fake refugee scam in which hundreds of Nepalis were duped of millions with the promise of making them Bhutanese refugees and sending them for resettlement to foreign countries like the US has figured prominently in the headlines.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 16, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
