Police arrested former Home Minister and Nepali Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand on Wednesday from his residence in Maijubahal, Kathmandu.

Nepal Police DSP Kuber Kadayat informed that Khand has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugee case, defrauding Nepali citizens on the pretext of sending them to the United States as refugees.

As many as 11 people, including top politicians and higher-ranking officials, have been arrested so far.

The group had been scamming people for the past five years by promising to send them abroad as refugees while issuing fake documents to some Nepali citizens, identifying them as refugees, to help them go abroad.

The racketeers took between Rs 1.5 million and Rs 2 million each from those aspiring to travel to the United States under the guise of refugees.

Meanwhile, former Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Nepal Police, Bigyan Raj Sharma has claimed that two people arrested in connection with the scam were earlier released under political pressure when Khand was serving as the home minister.