The court extended the detention period of RSP leader Lamichhane by 15 days

Kaski District Court granted 15-day remand to former home minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane to continue further investigation into allegations of cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering.

The order passed by Justice Himalal Belbase on Sunday applies to Lamichhane and three others – former Deputy Inspector General of Police Chhabilal Joshi, Leela Pachai and Ram Bahadur Khanal. The detention period of Lamichhane, who was first arrested on October 18, was extended more than once, increasing the total detention period to over 40 days.

It was Lamichhane arrested He was transferred to Pokhara for investigation on October 18 by a Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) team from RSP’s head office in Banasthali, Kathmandu. A case of cooperative fraud has been registered with Kaski district police. Earlier investigations, including one by a special parliamentary investigation committee, alleged that he, as managing director of the now-defunct Gorkha Media Network, was involved in the transfer of funds from several cooperatives, including Rs 30 million, to personal accounts.

The investigation follows findings by the parliamentary special investigation committee earlier this year that Lamichhane was involved in financial irregularities while running Galaxy 4K Television before leaving the media company to join politics in 2022.

At Sunday’s hearing, government lawyers and victims’ legal representatives argued for the extension of detention due to missing document analysis and pending collection of evidence. However, Lamichhane’s legal team opposed the extension, arguing that the allegations lacked concrete evidence.

Earlier, police took Lamichhane to Butwal to investigate his alleged involvement in misuse of fund from Butwal-based Suryadarsan Cooperative. Meanwhile, district courts in Kathmandu and Chitwan also issued arrest warrants against him and others on charges of diverting deposits based in Kathmandu. Swarnalaxmi Cooperative and based in Chitwan Sahara Cooperative.