The ward chairman of Umakunda Rural Municipality-7 in Ramechhap is among the five people being investigated on charge of forging documents to issue citizenship to an ineligible person.

Police said the ward chairman of Umakund-7, Rudramani Newar; the ward secretary, Keshar Khatri; Nishan Joshi of Kathmandu; and Hari Sunuwar and Dunimaya Sunuwar of Bhuji Village have been remanded in 12-day investigative custody by the District Court.

They were arrested on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by Khip Bahadur Sunuwar, a resident of Umakunda-7, at the Home Ministry, claiming that Nishan had acquired citizenship certificate from the Ramechhap District Administration Office (DAO) by means of fake documents.

Nishan, who is a native of Kathmandu, had contacted Hari about citizenship last year. Police said Hari had convinced Rudramani and Keshar to issue a citizenship recommendation letter to Nishan. The recommendation letter was supposedly based on a forged relationship document, which mentions Dunimaya and Nishan as mother and son.

The DAO had issued the citizenship certificate in the name of Nishan Sunuwar on June 4, 2017. 

The then assistant chief district officer of Ramechhap, Sitaram Thapa, who had issued the citizenship to Nishan, has also been called to the district for investigation, police said. Thapa is currently posted at Kavre DAO.

The accused ward officials, Rudramani, has claimed that he signed the recommendation letter after Dunimaya and Nishan appeared before him as mother and son.