Absconding CPN-UML Secretary and former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has been arrested in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugees scam.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, chief of District Police Range, Kathmandu, Rayamajhi was arrested from Budhanilkantha in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Rayamajhi had been absconding after the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant for him on May 3 over his alleged involvement in the scam.
Rayamajhi was attending an event in Arghakhanchi when the arrest warrant was issued for him.
He had said that he would return to Kathmandu and help the police with their investigation. He had also said that he would contact the police and present himself in person at the District Police Range, Kathmandu, but he had been on the run since then.
The District Police Range, Kathmandu, had issued a circular across the country for his arrest.
A team of Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had also been deployed to search for him as police suspected he may have fled to Lucknow, India.
Former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s son Prateek has been absconding.
Police have now arrested 13 people in connection with the scam that swindled tens of millions from Nepalis with the promise of sending them to America as Bhutanese refugees.
Those arrested are Rayamajhi and his son Sandeep, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Tek Narayan Pandey, Indrajit Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Sagar Rai, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Ram Sharan KC, Govinda Chaudhary, Nepali Congress leader and former home minister Bal Krishna Khand, and Khand’s personal secretary Narendra KC.
Ram Sharan KC and Govinda Chaudhary were arrested on Tuesday while Khand and his personal secretary were arrested from Khand’s residence in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning.
