Kathmandu:Fearful of their properties and businesses being confiscated after the Maoists come to power, members of Nepal's royal family, businessmen and former army officials loyal to King Gyanendra have started transferring their capital out of the country, a report said.

India, in fact, heads the list that include Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Britain and Belgium as some of the favoured new destinations of Nepal's rich loyalists who are now concentrating on acquiring property or investing in businesses in these countries, Nepali weekly Jana Aastha reported Wednesday.

Gurgaon, a booming suburb of New Delhi, is amongst the places that have seen a rush by buyers from Nepal, many of whom are former army generals or senior officers, the report said. 

Followers of King Gyanendra received a rude jolt earlier this year when a public revolt unseated the monarch and the new government of opposition parties said it would take over the property owned by the royal family in excess of the ceiling imposed by the law of the land.

Their jitters increased when landless Nepalis in Itahari in eastern Nepal, rejoicing after the fall of King Gyanendra's government in April, forcefully occupied a substantial stretch of land owned by a royal relative, Suraj Shumsher Rana.

Now there is a rush among royalists to sell their land in Nepal secretly and invest in properties and businesses outside the kingdom, the weekly said.

India comes across as the most favoured destination since a treaty between India and Nepal allows Nepalis to own property in India. Ironically, Nepal's communist parties, including the Maoists, have been pressing for the abolition or review of the treaty.

Among businessmen looking for safer investments abroad are leading industrialists from the Marwari community, it added.

Included in the group of those buying property or investing abroad is late king Birendra's son-in-law, Gorakh Shumsher Rana, the only survivor of the massacre in the royal palace in 2001 in which the king, queen and their three children as well as other royals were killed.

While Gorakh Rana is said to have bought property in London, King Gyanendra's nephews are said to have invested in Singapore, the report said.

The king's former trade partner Prabhakar Shumsher Rana, who fell out with the palace after Crown Prince Paras insulted his daughter-in-law and assaulted his son, is focusing on investments in Europe, the US and India.

A former army general who was made an ambassador, Prajwal Shumsher Rana, is said to have made investments in India and Belgium.