Thimphu dzongkhag court conducted the first preliminary hearing of the case involving top officials from the judiciary and the Royal Body Guards (RBG), this morning.

The prosecutor from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) submitted a series of charges under criminal conspiracy, mutiny, abettor of mutiny, and other criminal offenses against the four defendants — Khandu Wangmo, RBG’s former commandant Brigadier Thinley Tobgay, Justice Kuenlay Tshering of the Supreme Court, and Pemagatshel Drangpon Yeshey Dorji.

The then Drangpon Yeshi Dorji, Pemagatshel Dzongkhag Court, filed Crime Information Report (CIR) of Impersonation of Uniformed Personnel and Deceptive Practice against Khandu Wangmo and former Brigadier of the Royal Body Guards (RBG) Thinley Tobgay on July 9, 2020 to the Crime Branch of the Royal Bhutan Police. Concurrently, Col. Karma Lodey Samphel of the Royal Bhutan Army had also lodged a written complaint to Royal Bhutan Police on October 20, 2020, against Khandu Wangmo and Thinley Tobgay for harassing him for a period of seven months (April to October 2016).

Based on the formal complaint, the Royal Bhutan Police carried out a detailed investigation and it revealed that Khandu Wangmo in collusion with Justice Kuenlay Tshering, Drangpon Yeshi Dorji and Thinley Tobgay were found to be involved in the commission of Criminal Conspiracy of Mutiny and Abettor of Mutiny, and other criminal offences over the period of four years starting from 2015 till 2018, which were planned discreetly.

The Criminal Conspiracy of Mutiny to overthrow the Chief Operation Officer of the Royal Bhutan Army and other criminal acts in collusion with Thinley Tobgay, Justice Kuenlay Tshering, and Drangpon Yeshi Dorji were established through their voluntary confessional written statements to the RBP corroborated by the collation of documentary and electronic evidence forwarded to the Office of Attorney General. The criminal conspiracy and the intent to achieve personal gratification of replacing the Army Chief, Supreme Court Chief Justice and Registrar General were evident corroborated by numerous incriminating evidences, detailed records of discrete meetings, well-planned and final lodging of unsubstantiated written allegation against the Chief of Army.