The unfolding scam over the creation of fake Bhutanese refugees has shaken the highest echelons of Nepali politics.

On Saturday, CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in his second such meeting in three days, to discuss ongoing investigation into the issue.

Some individuals including former home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, and Indra Jeet Rai, former security adviser to home minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, have been arrested. Nepal Police has now broadened its investigation into the scam.

The government hopes that when the Parliament session resumes on Sunday and lawmakers prominently raise the issue of fake refugees, investigators will get a morale boost to press ahead with their probes without any bias, a senior CPN (Maoist Centre) leader told the Post.

The matter was discussed during a meeting of the ruling parties on Saturday evening, after Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha briefed them on the latest developments.

“The action against those involved in this scam is an effort to promote good governance and strengthen nationality,” Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the CPN (Maoist Centre), said. “Leaders at the meeting also stressed stern action against all those involved.”

Oli twice met Dahal after the Kathmandu District Court issued an arrest warrant against former deputy prime minister and UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, who is absconding. Dahal, after meeting with Oli, hinted that the UML chief had raised the issue of Rayamajhi.

The government will move ahead steadfastly to take action against those who engage in corruption, said Dahal after his meeting with Oli. “The campaign against corruption will continue and the government will move ahead as per the law.”

Besides Rayamajhi, Oli is also concerned about possible involvement of other party leaders and the head of a constitutional body whose name has also been dragged in the case. “As more UML leaders and officials are connected with this case, Oli is repeatedly meeting Dahal,” an official at the prime minister’s private secretariat said.

Pandey, Rai, Sandeep (Rayamajhi’s son), and some other individuals have been taken into custody for preparing fake refugee documents in collusion with government officials. They had allegedly accumulated millions of rupees from 875 individuals aspiring to go to the United States in the guise of refugees.

As per the statements recorded by some individuals, former home minister and Nepali Congress leader Bal Krishna Khand is also connected to the case. Khand issued a statement on Saturday claiming that the media reports alleging his involvement had no factual basis.

“I have not visited the place mentioned in some reports. I ask all to refrain from creating confusion and assassinating a person’s character,” Khand said.

Some media reports stated that Khand was also involved in the case and that he had visited Jhapa with the individuals who are now in police custody. “He did not go to Jhapa. He had visited other districts in the course of taking stock of floods and landslides,” Ram Hari Khatiwada, a Nepali Congress lawmaker, said.

Prime Minister Dahal has vowed to take action against all those involved. “This campaign will not stop… I will not bow down before any kind of pressure,” said Dahal.

There is clear instruction from the top political level not to spare anyone, a senior home ministry official said. “As the police have already opened the file and several people have been arrested, it won’t be easy for the government to backtrack in the case,” the official added.

“Oli-ji expressed his concern about the matter in the previous meeting and also in today’s meeting,” said Dahal, “but he didn’t seek Rayamajhi’s protection either.”

For his part, Oli has claimed that he was not trying to protect those accused in the Bhutanese refugee scam and refuted allegations that he was repeatedly meeting the prime minister to protect the culprits.

“Do you believe that I am working to protect the culprits? These are rumours spread by those with bad intentions,” said Oli. He, however, didn’t reveal what he discussed with the prime minister.

Oli said he was not in contact with Rayamajhi. UML Secretary Rayamajhi, who is also a federal lawmaker from Arghakhanchi, is on the run after an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Asked about the whereabouts of the absconding Rayamajhi, Oli replied that perhaps journalists could find him. “He is not in contact with me,” said Oli. “Some people are making a noise that I am protecting [him]… but we are not protecting anyone.”

Dahal also warned political leaders not to undermine his prime ministership on the ground that his Maoist party has only 32 seats in the House of Representatives. Addressing a function of the Maoist Dalit organisation, he said that his party has the potential to win majority seats and “capture the state”. Dahal warned that the government action in the refugee scam was only the start as the government had only begun “opening corruption files”.

“Now the files of the corrupt will be opened. Corruption cannot be overlooked on any pretext… We will not spare anyone,” he said.