Court grants additional one-week remand order for Lamichhane, Joshi

By Phadindra Adhikari,Lekthnath, Oct. 25: The Kaski District Court has allowed Nepal Police to keep the President of Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rabi Lamichhane, and former DIG of Nepal Police Chhabi Lal Joshi in custody for additional seven days to further investigate their involvement in the cooperative fraud.  

A single bench of Judge Chandra Kanta Paudel on Thursday extended an additional seven-day remand order against Lamichhane and Joshi, who are arrested and under investigation for their alleged involvement in the misuse of the deposits of cooperative funds, especially from Supreme Cooperative and Surya Darshan Cooperative Limited.

Information officer Suraj Adhikari of the District Court informed that the Court on Thursday gave a seven-day remand order to Nepal Police to investigate Lamichhane and Joshi. 

Earlier, the Court had granted a six-day remand order to investigate Lamichhane after he was arrested from Kathmandu on October 18.

As the statement-taking process from Lamichhane and Joshi continues, the Kaski Police Office sought an additional remand order from the Court. Police have prepared to file charge sheets under cooperative fraud and organised crime.

Both of them have been accused of misappropriating funds from the Surya Darshan Cooperative in Pokhara and diverting the deposit to Gorkha Media Network. According to a parliamentary committee report, an illegal transfer of Rs. 650 million from various cooperatives across the country, including Surya Darshan in Pokhara, has been documented.

Reports indicate that Rs. 55.8 million from Surya Darshan alone was transferred to Gorkha Media.

Joshi, who was arrested on September 22, had his detention extended, but it expired on Wednesday. He was apprehended after police learned he was planning to leave the country and was taken to Kaski. 

Lamichhane and Joshi were arrested as per the parliamentary committee’s recommendation for an investigation into cooperatives.

On Thursday, both the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by Lamichhane, and the victims of the cooperative held protests. Continuous protests for the past week have disrupted daily life in Pokhara. 

Demonstrations by victims of Surya Darshan Cooperative and RSP supporters have led to road blockages and traffic jams in various locations. The case involving the misappropriation of Rs. 1.35 billion in Surya Darshan Cooperative is currently under consideration in the Kaski District Court.