Nepal court orders release of ex-home minister on Rs 3 million bail

A high court in Nepal on Thursday ordered the release of former home minister Balkrishna Khand on a Rs 3 million bail.

Khand, the influential leader of the Nepali Congress, was arrested in May for his alleged involvement in the fake refugee racket under which Nepali nationals were sent to the United States by forging fake documents of them being Bhutanese refugees.

Judge Krishna Ram Koirala of the Patan High Court on Thursday ordered the release of the former home minister on a bail of Rs 3 million, according to the court's spokesperson Thirtha Raj Bhattarai.

Khand is likely to be released from the jail on Friday, according to officials.

He is one of the two high-profile political leaders who have remained in custody for months on the fake refugee scam charges.

Former deputy prime minister and senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) [CPN-UML] Top Bahadur Rayamajhi is also serving jail term for the scam.

In May, the Nepal government started investigating more than 30 people, including influential political leaders and top bureaucrats, on charges of taking bribes in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)