Bhutanese Refugee Scam: Ex-DPM Rayamajhi and Ex-Home Minister Khand termed guilty

Kathmandu, July 8

Former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey have been found guilty along with 20 others in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. The Kathmandu District Court has convicted a total of 23 people with varied degrees of offences in sending non-Bhutanese people to the US and other countries for third-country settlement by verifying them as Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal.

A bench of Judge Tej Bahadur Khadka on Tuesday termed them guilty and decided to present them for sentencing, shared the District Court’s Information Officer Shiva Khatiwada. The government prosecutor had filed a case against 30 people on charges of fraud, forgery, crimes against the state, and organised crime. According to the full text of the judgment, seven defendants have been acquitted, including Sanjeev Rayamaji, the son of Rayamajhi and Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘ Badal’.

Ram Sharan KC, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Laxmi Maharjan, Keshav Tuladhar, and Ashish Budhathoki have also been acquitted in the case. Similarly, Bhutanese refugee leader Teknath Rijal has been found guilty of forging government documents, serving as an accomplice in the crimes of fraud and organised crime and an accomplice in crimes against the state.

The district court has also found Sanu Bhandari and Keshav Dulal, who are said to be the main planners in this case, guilty of forging government documents, fraud, organised crime and crimes against the state. The punishment will be announced by the Court on July 13.

—RSS

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