The Kathmandu District Court on Tuesday extended the custody of nine individuals arrested in connection with the Lalita Niwas land scam by seven days while also allowing the police to investigate them for organised crime.

The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police, which has been probing them for document forgery, is also preparing a case of organised crime, arguing that the government-owned Lalita Niwas land at Baluwatar was illegally transferred in the name of individuals through collusion among officials.

CIB chief Additional Inspector General Kiran Bajracharya confirmed that the court had extended the custody in addition to permitting the CIB to investigate the accused for organised crime.

In the case of document forgery, the police should conclude their investigations within 25 days and file a case in court. But following the court’s permission to investigate them for organised crime, the CIB now has 60 days to prepare and file a case, according to the Organised Crime Act-2013.

Also on Tuesday, the CIB filed a petition at the Supreme Court demanding that a stay order issued on August 4 last year, which prevented the detention of 17 people involved in the scam, be vacated.

The police had arrested seven suspects on June 27, but released Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Kapali and Hupendra Mani KC later in the day owing to the stay order.

“On the CIB’s demand for vacating the stay order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday conducted a hearing but no decision was taken,” said Bajracharya. “The hearing is scheduled to continue on Wednesday too.”

The other four—former election commissioner Sudhir Shah, Bhatbhateni Supermarket owner Min Bahadur Gurung, and former employees of Land Revenue Office Dharma Prasad Gautam and Gopal Karki—were remanded to seven days in police custody on June 28.

On Sunday, the the police bureau arrested Baburaja Maharjan, Ghaman Kumar Karki and Shivaji Bhattarai in connection with the land scam while two more accused—Ramesh Kumar Pokharel, the former head of Samarjung Company, and Dev Narayan Maharjan—were caught on Monday.

Lalita Niwas covers some 300 ropanis [around 15 hectares] of land and includes the prime minister’s residence, Nepal Rastra Bank central office and some other official residences.