Khand released after serving seven months in prison

KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress leader and former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has been released from prison.

The Patan High Court on Thursday decided to release Khand on a bail of Rs 3 million. Khand was released on Friday after his family paid the bail amount and completed other necessary formalities.

On Friday, Khand was first taken to the Kathmandu District Court where he paid the Rs 3 million bail amount. He was then taken to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, where he furnished a deposit of Rs 1.5 million. Subsequently, he was taken to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), from where he was allowed to walk free.

Police had arrested Khand from his residence on May 10 for an investigation into a racket that collected tens of millions of rupees promising to resettle Nepali nationals in the US as Bhutanese refugees. The District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kathmandu, listed 30 individuals as defendants. The DGAO filed cases of fraud, organized crime, forgery, and offenses against the state against them at the Kathmandu District Court on May 24.

After conducting a bail hearing on June 16, the Kathmandu District Court sent Khand and 16 others to judicial custody until a final verdict was reached.

Khand and others challenged the district court’s verdict at the Patan High Court which granted him bail.