KATHMANDU, May 18: Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha has expressed commitment to take the ongoing investigation into the fake Bhutanese refugee scam to a logical end based on available facts and evidence.

While receiving a memorandum submitted by a delegation of CPN (Unified Socialist) leaders, requesting the government to book the guilty involved in the Bhutanese refugee scam, at the home ministry on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Shrestha said that all those guilty will be taken action as per the existing laws of the country.

Minister Shrestha also said that it is a case of an organized crime to earn money by sending Nepali nationals abroad under the guise of Bhutanese refugees. He said that the government will leave no stone unturned to book all those responsible for this crime.

“The process of sending Nepali nationals by making them fake Bhutanese refugees and amassing  property by collecting money in an illegal way has been established. We are in favor of taking stringent action against those involved,” he said.

 Minister Shrestha also said that the government is committed to curb corruption. He added that the goal to achieve prosperity is not possible until corruption is controlled. He also mentioned that the government will conduct impartial investigation on corruption and will not be influenced by any kind of pressure.

The delegation of Unified Socialist was led by the party’s Deputy General Secretary Jagannath Khatiwada. This comes in the wake of police being given a few more days to conduct investigation into the scam. Earlier, the District Public Prosecutor’s Office, Kathmandu, had asked the police to conclude the investigation by Tuesday.

A total of 14 persons including former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and former Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Angtawa Sherpa have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Police officials said more people are likely to be arrested in connection with the scam as they are gathering more evidence in connection with the incident. It is said that a total of 20 complaints have been filed so far and the scam involves a fraud of around Rs 400 million with a total of 145 victims approaching police for justice so far. 

 
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