POKHARA, Dec 9: Rabi Lamichhane, former Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), who was in the custody of the Kaski police on the charge of cooperative fraud case, has been taken to Birgunj on Monday.
RSP Chair Lamichhane was taken from Pokhara to Kathmandu and from Kathmandu to Simara via Buddha Air. He was taken to Birgunj by road from Simara. Former directors of Gorkha Media, Chhabilal Joshi and Ram Bahadur Khanal, who were arrested in this case, have also been taken from Pokhara to Birgunj.
An arrest warrant was issued by the Parsa District Court on December 4 against 14 individuals, including Lamichhane, regarding the embezzlement of funds of Sano Paila Cooperative.
RSP intensifies protest against Chairman Lamichhane’s arrest
The Sano Paila Cooperative, which operated in wards 8, 13, 14, 18, and 19 of the then Birgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, had accumulated savings of Rs 1.35 billion from nearly 800 depositors.
Lamichhane has already given a statement on charges of embezzling funds from Suryadarshan Cooperative of Kaski, Supreme Cooperative of Butwal, and Sahara Cooperative of Chitwan.
Lamichhane, who was arrested from Kathmandu on October 18, was transferred to Kaski on the same day.
Initially, police conducted an investigation against Lamichhane on charges of cooperative fraud and organized crime. Later, the Kaski police also started investigating him for money laundering. Lamichhane is being investigated for misappropriation of funds from Pokhara based Suryadarshan Cooperative, Supreme cooperative in Butwal, Sahara Cooperative in Chitwan and others.
