Police on Sunday arrested former deputy prime minister and CPN-UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, 11 days after an arrest warrant was issued against him. Rayamajhi had been absconding since May 4 after the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant against him and his son Sandeep. Police have already apprehended Sandeep for his alleged involvement in the case.

According to police, Rayamajhi was detained from Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu at around 9 pm yesterday.

“We got information that Rayamajhi came to Kathmandu on Saturday,” a police official involved in the investigation said, adding, “We arrested him on Sunday evening.” The UML secretary is accused of helping forge government documents to send Nepalis to the United States in the guise of Bhutanese refugees. Police have already nabbed Tek Narayan Pandey, the secretary at the Office of the Vice President, and Indrajit Rai, who served as a security adviser to former home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, in connection with the scam. Earlier, police had arrested Sagar Thulung from Morang, Tanka Gurung from Panchthar, and Sandesh Sharma from Dang. Sanu Bhandari, an aide of Rayamajhi, and Keshav Dulal, the former personal secretary of Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala, were also held based on complaints filed by various people.