Devendra Bhattarai

Indrajit Rai, a security adviser to then-home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, has been arrested for his alleged connections with a gang of con men accused of duping people on the pretext of sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

Police had earlier busted the gang and arrested Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Thulung Rai, Tanka Gurung and Sandesh Sharma Pokharel.

Rai was caught from his Saukhel-based residence early Tuesday on the basis of the statements of the arrestees.

Rai has been accused of planning out the execution of the fraudulent activities of the group.

According to the arrestees, Rai had allegedly taken more than Rs50 million from the group over the years in several instances.

Former energy minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has also admitted that he helped the group when they faced difficulties at various ministerial levels and that he was close acquaintances with Dulal and Bhandari.

Dulal was the personal assistant to former foreign affairs minister Sujata Koirala while Bhandari was Rayamjhi’s aide.

As per the preliminary investigation of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Division, Rai’s direct involvement in criminal activities has been established.

On June 14, 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Nepal Police had launched an investigation into a criminal group involved in fraud. The group had allegedly been scamming people for the past five years by promising to fly them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

The victims had filed a case against the group at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority at the end of 2021. However, the case was brought to the Kathmandu Valley Crime Division only in June 2022.

The group has allegedly swindled millions of rupees from over 1,000 people from different places in Nepal.

Published on: 2 May 2023 | The Kathmandu Post