Spread the love

By Our Reporter

In a month after the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML forged alliance in a dramatic way, it has now been clear that the two parties came closer because of the arrest of Bechan Jha believed to be the mastermind behind the Bhutanese refugee scam.

When the police reopened the files of the fake Bhutanese refugee case after arresting Bechan Jha from Kanchanpur on June 28, Arzu Rana, the wife of Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, became restless as she feared that she could be dragged into the case anytime.

With Jha, Pratik Thapa, son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was also held, which paved the way for police to reopen the files of the fake Bhutanese case.

Jha is identified as a suspicious character as he had been found to have taken a cheque of Rs. 20 million from Ram Sharan KC, a member of the same gang. KC, in his statement, said that he issued the cheque from the Himalayan Bank at the instruction of Sanu Bhandari.

Even in the past, when police tried to reopen the files, suspecting Rana’s involvement, the attempt was foiled. Now when Manoj KC became chief of the Crime Bureau of Nepal Police, he not only succeeded to nab Jha, but his move targeted Rana, which ultimately culminated in the forging of the present alliance.

The political career of many leaders including Bal Krishna Khand of the NC and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi of the UML ended with their arrest in the case. It is said that Khand was initially arrested at the instruction of Rana, but when the finger was pointed at Rana, she hurried to ally to avert the consequences. When Rana was afraid of the case relating to the Bhutanese refugee case, CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli was also facing charges of Giribandhu Tea Estate. Interestingly, NC youth leaders like Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma of NC were ahead in raising the issue of Giribandhu, and Rana has seen the youth leaders as key barriers to her climb to the political ladder. Now Rana and Oli have succeeded in silencing the voices of NC youth leaders. It is also evident from the fact that the first transfer made by the new government was of DIG Manoj KC from the CIB.

This alliance has been fruitful to the entire UML party and only to Arzu Rana of the NC while it has become counterproductive for the NC youth leaders who were trying to revive people’s trust in the NC. Rana is now foreign minister and probably the close aide to Prime Minister Oli.