KATHMANDU: It has been revealed that among the 18 individuals charged by the District Government Attorney’s Office Kathmandu in the Bhutanese refugees scam, one is a police personnel.
Laxmi Maharjan, who surrendered to the police along with her husband Hari Bhakta Maharjan, is a Sub Inspector of Nepal Police. She had been working as a staff nurse at Nepal Police Hospital.
The Kathmandu District Police Range, which disclosed the identities of all the arrested accused, including a former deputy minister, former home minister, and government secretary, did not initially reveal to the media that Laxmi was a police personnel.
However, Senior Superintendent of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, the chief of the Kathmandu District Police Range, stated that the police only learned about her profession during the investigation. “There is no reason to hide. The police had no prior knowledge. We became aware that she is a police personnel when we discovered that her bank account was being used for financial transactions by members of the racket,” Karki added.
Laxmi has been charged by the police with criminal mischief against the government, forgery, fraud, and organized crime.
The Maharjan couple surrendered to the police while attorneys were filing cases against the accused in court.
The bail hearing for the 18 individuals is currently underway at the Kathmandu District Court, while twelve others are still at large.
These are the 18 arrested:
- Former Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi
- Sandeep Rayamajhi
- Former Home Minister Bal Krishna KhandNarendra KC
- Former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey
- Indrajit Rai
- Former lawmaker Ang Tawa Sherpa
- Keshav Dulal
- Sanu Bhandari
- Tanka Kumar Gurung
- Sandesh Sharma
- Sagar Rai
- Bhutanese refugee leader Teknath Rijal
- Haj Committee Chairman Shamsher Mian
- Ram Sharan KC
- Govinda Kumar Chaudhary
- Lakshmi Maharjan
- Hari Bhakta Maharjan
