Former-Home Minister’s Wife Disappears From Nepal, Reappears in Australia

Amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding the arrest of former Nepali Congress home minister Bal Krishna Khand and his alleged involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugees case, a new development has come to light.

The wife of former home minister Khand, Manju Khand, has been located in Australia after her abrupt disappearance. Despite the distressing circumstances of her husband’s arrest on charges of deceiving Nepalese citizens by providing them with counterfeit Bhutanese refugee status, Manju’s safe arrival in Sydney has been confirmed by sources at the Nepali Embassy, Himal Press reported.

While police went to arrest Khand at his Kathmandu residence last Wednesday, they could not find his wife. It is now revealed that Manju had flown to Australia via New Delhi, India, and was picked up by Ram Ghimire, who has been living in Australia for a long time. It is said that she is staying with her son and brother, Himal Press reported.

The disappearance of Manju had created a lot of interest since it coincided with her husband’s arrest. Her name was also linked to the same fake refugee case, which had led to suspicions that she had gone abroad out of fear of arrest. Meanwhile, Khand remains in custody at the Kathmandu Police Complex, where he is being visited by other family members.

The case also involves Arju Rana, the wife of Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, with whom Manju’s audio was released on the fake refugee issue. Arju has filed a complaint with the Cyber Bureau of the Nepali Police stating that the audio was ‘fake’. With Manju’s sudden appearance in Australia, there is renewed interest in the case and its potential ramifications.

Manju Khand arrived in Australia without addressing the allegations against her. In a one-minute and three-second audio recording, it is claimed that Arju Deuba received Rs 25 million while Manju Khand received Rs 60 million. The police were able to uncover the involvement of Bal Krishna Khand in this case through Tek Narayan Pandey, who served as Home Secretary during Khand’s tenure as Home Minister.

Upon investigating, the police found a message on Pandey’s mobile phone in which the former Home Minister instructed to pay Rs 5 lakh to his personal secretary Narendra KC. It is suspected that with Khand’s arrest, other leaders may also be implicated in the case.

The police were able to retrieve the messages from Pandey’s mobile phone, which he had formatted. Khand had also formatted his mobile phone. The police have sent both phones to a digital forensic lab to recover any deleted information.

A total of twelve individuals have been apprehended, including Bal Krishna Khand, a former Home Minister, in connection with a case of counterfeit Bhutanese refugees. Also taken into custody were Tek Narayan Pandey, Secretary of the Vice President’s Office, Indrajit Rai, adviser to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’, Narendra KC, Khand’s private secretary, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Tank Kumar Gurung, Sandeep Rayamajhi, Ram Sharan KC and Govind Chaudhary.

The arrests were made to look into the matter of duping Nepali citizens out of crores by inserting phony schedules into the government task force’s report, which was prepared to discover a permanent solution to the issue of Bhutanese refugees.

The report alleges that these individuals accumulated large sums of money by providing 875 Nepali citizens with Bhutanese refugee identity cards by adding the schedules of ‘registration exemption’ and ‘seeking resettlement in a third country.’

Former minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, who was issued an arrest warrant by the police to investigate the case, is currently on the run. UML has suspended him from his position as party secretary.