Govt prepared to arrest former PM Deuba and his wife Arzu

The Kathmandu District Court has granted police permission to arrest the Deuba couple and investigate them in the case.

The Nepal government is preparing to arrest former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, former foreign affairs minister Arzu Rana Deuba, in a money laundering case.

The Kathmandu District Court has granted police permission to arrest the Deuba couple and investigate them in the case. The couple, who left the country around the end of February for Singapore, ostensibly for medical treatment, are believed to be in Hong Kong.

Officials said the notice is likely to be served through Nepal’s mission in Hong Kong. If they refuse to return and face investigation, the government may approach Interpol, they said.The arrest warrant against the Deuba couple comes on the eve of the likely release of another former prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, following a Supreme Court order.

While Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on March 28 on the basis of the Gauri Bahadur Commission of Inquiry into the September incident involving the alleged excessive use of force by the state against anti-corruption protests, the Deuba couple is being investigated over the source of their property.

A division bench of the Supreme Court had directed the government not to extend Oli and Lekhak’s judicial custody beyond Thursday and to investigate them only after releasing them.

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The Nepal government is preparing to arrest former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, former foreign affairs minister Arzu Rana Deuba, in a money laundering case.

The Kathmandu District Court has granted police permission to arrest the Deuba couple and investigate them in the case. The couple, who left the country around the end of February for Singapore, ostensibly for medical treatment, are believed to be in Hong Kong.

Officials said the notice is likely to be served through Nepal’s mission in Hong Kong. If they refuse to return and face investigation, the government may approach Interpol, they said.The arrest warrant against the Deuba couple comes on the eve of the likely release of another former prime minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, following a Supreme Court order.

While Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on March 28 on the basis of the Gauri Bahadur Commission of Inquiry into the September incident involving the alleged excessive use of force by the state against anti-corruption protests, the Deuba couple is being investigated over the source of their property.

A division bench of the Supreme Court had directed the government not to extend Oli and Lekhak’s judicial custody beyond Thursday and to investigate them only after releasing them.