Kathmandu. Nepali Congress leader and former Home Minister Balkrishna Khan was arrested from his residence this morning by the team of Valley Crime Investigation Office and District Police Complex. According to sources, the accused who was arrested in the Bhutanese refugee fraud case has also taken the name of former Home Minister and Congress leader Khan in his statement. On that basis, he was arrested for investigation.
Police have so far arrested 11 people in the Bhutanese refugee fraud case. Two people were arrested on Tuesday. Ramsharan KC of Kathmandu Tokha and Gobind Chaudhary of Jhapa were arrested on Tuesday. SP Ravindra Regmi of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office said that both of them were middlemen collecting money.
Earlier, eight people have been arrested in this case. Among them are Secretary Teknarayan Pandey, then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s advisor Indrajit Rai, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi’s son Sandeep, while the intermediary group includes Sanu Bhandari, Keshav Dulal, Sandesh Sharma, Tank Gurung, and Sagar Rai. According to sources, the arrest warrants have been issued and UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamazhi and Indrajit Rai’s son Neeraj are also absconding. There are seven other middlemen who collect money together in groups.
UML secretary and former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has been absconding for a week in the case of fake Bhutanese refugees. If he is not arrested or does not appear in the House within 30 days, he will automatically be suspended as an MP. There is a provision in this regard in the Prevention of Organized Crime Act, of 2070. Section 52 of the Act has a special provision in relation to fugitives. In it is said, “If a person who commits an organized crime cannot be arrested or is absconding, the following shall be done from the 30th day after the arrest warrant is issued in the name of such person until he appears in court.”
In sub-section 1(ka) of that section, it is further stated, ‘Such a person is an incumbent of the Government of Nepal, a constitutional body or any government office, an organized body fully or partially owned or controlled by the Government of Nepal, a local body, an educational or academic institution or any other public institution. If he is an official or an employee, he will be automatically suspended from his position.’ As Rayamajhi is a sitting MP, according to this provision, he will be automatically suspended after three weeks, says the police officer. In the same section, it is also mentioned that in such a case, in order to retain the property, it will be delivered by diplomatic means in the case of being abroad.
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