Mayor accused of cooperative fraud arrested at Delhi airport

KATHMANDU, Sept 27: Devkumar Nepali, the mayor of Dhorpatan Municipality in Baglung and a fugitive in a cooperative fraud case, has been arrested in New Delhi, India. He had been on the run since May of last year and was apprehended at the airport in Delhi on Friday.

After going into hiding, the Nepal Police had issued a ‘red notice’ against Mayor Nepali through Interpol. In response to the notice, authorities in New Delhi alerted Nepal Police about his presence in the Delhi airport. The police attaché from the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi detained him, confirmed Tek Prasad Rai, the Acting Chief of Nepal Police and Additional Inspector General (AIG).

"After being found at the airport, our Embassy's attaché detained him there," Acting Chief of Nepal Police Rai said. "Arrangements are now being made to bring him back to Nepal with the assistance of Interpol."

Mayor Nepali is accused of misappropriating the savings of Image Cooperative located in Baglung and Pokhara. He went into hiding as soon as the allegations were made and the police began their investigation. He is the founding chairman of the cooperative. He and other board members are alleged to have misappropriated over Rs 1.5 billion from the cooperative.

The cooperative fraud case is currently under consideration in the Baglung District Court. Based on the report from the Baglung Police, the District Government Attorney's Office filed a case against Mayor Nepali and 11 others in the court in June 2023.