The addition of three lawmakers -- Shiva Pujan Raya, Rambha Devi and Salma Khatun of Madhesi People´s Right Forum (MPRF) -- to the list weighs down heavily on the government as it tries to look for ways to downplay a case that has already seen the involvement of Gyatri Shah and BP Yadav.[break]
Investigative sources said that the three additional lawmakers could have been involved in the scam through the same racket that worked with Shah and Yadav. The assumed lynchpin of the racket, one Santosh Uprety, has been at large after police started looking for him two weeks ago on the basis of a mysterious complaint filed by Shah.
Republica has ascertained (see report published on Friday) that Yadav has been communicating, even very recently, with Uprety, adding mystery to Shah´s complaint to the police.
Meanwhile, Republica has gotten hold of a copy of the statement that one Prithivi Chantyal, who had used Yadav´s tempered red passport, furnished to the Abu Dhabi Immigration Office. Chantyal was turned back from Abu Dhabi as he was about to board a flight to Sydney.
He mentioned in the statement that he had given Rs 16 million to two agents--Manoj Karki and Ashish Sherpa--to get the red passport with visas for different countries including the Shenzhen ones. Officials believe that the amount would have been paid for at least 15 red passports and that Chantyal could also be a bigwig in the racket.
The authorities are unaware of the whereabouts of Chantyal after he returned from Abu Dhabi.
“The finding of the link to three other lawmakers could make the government feel ample pressure to take up the case seriously so that the guilty could be indicted,” officials said.
“The case has entangled the top levels of politics because of its ramifications,” added the officials.
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