KATHMANDU, Jan 21: Rabi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has arrived in Bhairahawa to appear before the court. He flew from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa on Tuesday to attend the court hearing on a case related to the misappropriation of funds from Butwal-based Supreme Cooperative.
The chief of the Rupandehi District Police Office, Ranjit Singh Rathore, confirmed that Lamichhane will appear before the court on Wednesday.
A supplementary case has also been registered against RSP Chairman Lamichhane and former DIG Chhabilal Joshi in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case at the Rupandehi District Court. The District Government Attorney's Office, Rupandehi, filed the case on Sunday against Lamichhane, Joshi, and 20 others under the charge of organized crime.
RSP chair Lamichhane to appear in Kathmandu District Court toda...
In the Supreme Cooperative fraud case, the District Government Attorney's Office has submitted a charge sheet to the district court, claiming to recover over Rs 41.5 million from former Home Minister Lamichhane and over Rs 42.7 million from former DIG Joshi for funneling the funds from the cooperative to Gorkha Media.
Sources from the RSP also confirmed that Lamichhane is preparing to appear before the court with his legal team for bail hearing.
In the Supreme Cooperative case, 1,831 depositors had filed a complaint in March 2023 against the cooperative's operators, including Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, Chairman Om Prakash Gurung, and other officials, directors, and employees, accusing them of embezzling a large sum of money deposited in the cooperative. Police investigation found that Rai and Gurung's groups embezzled Rs 861.8 million out of Rs 1.31 billion collected by the cooperative from the public. Initially, a case was filed against 28 individuals in mid-April to mid-May.
Police investigation found that Rs 140 million had been transferred from Supreme Cooperative to the Gorkha Media Network, in which Rai, Joshi, and Lamichhane were involved. Based on preliminary investigation, the police expanded their scope of investigation and filed cases against 14 additional individuals, including Lamichhane and Joshi. Following the supplementary investigation report, the District Government Attorney's Office filed an additional charge sheet at the District Court.
