Among the 17 individuals arrested in the case of fake refugees, two have recorded statements in the District Court Kathmandu on Friday.
After the District Public Prosecutor’s Office filed the case on Wednesday, the recording of statements of the accused started from Friday.
District Police Range, Kathmandu produced 16 accused arrested in the court on Friday afternoon.
Among those submitted to the court, the statements of Sagar Rai and Keshav Dulal recorded before the bench of District Judge Prem Prasad Neupane on Friday.
While the statement of these two was going on, on Friday afternoon, the police arrested 32-year-old Lakshmi Maharjan of Lalitpur, who was on the fugitive list in this case.
Keshav, who is also a Congress supporter, has accused the ordinary cadres of UML to high-level leaders in this case.
In his statement, he claimed that UML Vice President Badal and Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Chief Prem Kumar Rai had cheated him by taking millions of rupees from him.
Earlier, the statement was recorded in the district attorney’s office, but the judge also takes a separate statement in the courtroom.
As the statement started from Friday, it may take at least a week to complete the statement of the 17 individuals arrested including Maharjan.
Once all the statements are taken, the court will issue a verdict whether to send the accused to jail or to keep them outside.
In this case, 30 people including former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand have been made defendants.
Seventeen of them are in custody. The remaining 13 are absconding.
Along with Rayamajhi and Khand, former MP Angtawa Sherpa, Nepal Government Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, former Security Adviser to Home Minister Indrajit Rai, Khand’s Private Secretary Narendra KC, Top Bahadur’s son Sandeep Rayamajhi, refugee leader Teknath Rijal, Hajj Committee Chairman Shamsher Miya, Sanu Bhandari, Keshav Dulal, Sandesh Sharma, Tanka Gurung, Sagar Rai, Ram Sharan KC, Govinda Chaudhary and Lakshmi Maharjan have been arrested.
So far, former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal’s son Pratik and his security advisor Dr. Indrajit Rai’s son Niraj are absconding.
A case has been filed against them for fraud, forgery of documents, crime treason and organized crime and interested offense.
