Kathmandu, May 10:

Nepali Congress leader and former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand has been arrested in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee scam on Wednesday and is being detained in Teku Police station.

The team of Kathmandu Police Circle arrested Khand from his residence in Mainjubahal for his alleged involvement in the scam where many Nepalis were swindled out of millions of rupees in return for sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees.

Bigyan Raj Sharma, a former Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Nepal Police,  had claimed that two people arrested by the police in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugees scam were released under political pressure when Khand was serving as the home minister.

The then home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who was appointed by Khand when he was heading the Home Ministry is also in police custody with around 11 people who have been arrested.