Nepal: Former Home Minister’s judicial custody extended by four days

May 11, 2023

Kathmandu (Nepal), May 11 (ANI): The Kathmandu District Court has extended four days of judicial custody to former Home Minister and leader of the Nepali Congress, Bal Krishna Khand, in a fake refugee scam. Khand was first taken for medical check-ups, then to the office of the attorney general and district court, where the Kathmandu Police Circle was granted permission to keep him in custody to further investigate the matter. Wearing a cap and mask to cover his face, Khand walked cuffs free as he was escorted in a police van to the judicial bodies for further procedures. On Wednesday, the former home minister was arrested at his residence by a team from Kathmandu Police Circle. Likewise, his personal aide, Narendra KC, in connection to the case later on the day. Addressing the house session on Wednesday, Gagan Kumar Thapa, the General Secretary, applauded the move of the arrest of the former Home Minister and alerted the government not to backtrack over the investigation currently ongoing. Manju Khand, the wife of arrested senior Nepali Congress leader Balkrishna Khand, is on the run. As per the police officials, the spouse (Manju) was not present in the house but was on a video call with Bal Krishna Khand during the police raid. Taking a stand on the issue, the Opposition's Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chief, also a former Deputy Prime Minister, urged the government not to let the investigation go loose owing to pressure from multiple fronts. Nepal's Home Ministry had formed a task force to find out how to resettle the remaining Bhutanese refugees who had been denied resettlement. The investigative report by CIJ disclosed the infiltration by a government official, Rai, in the report, where he managed to manipulate the number of "left out" refugees for resettlement.