Kathmandu: A Nepal district court on Sunday remanded former deputy prime minister Rabi Lamichhane in custody for six days in a misappropriation of funds case related to cooperatives.
A team of police from the Central Investigation Bureau arrested Lamichhane, 50, who is also the president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, on Friday when it raided his party’s office at Banasthali on the outskirts of the capital.
A single bench of Judge Navaraj Dahal of Kaski District Court permitted the police to keep Lamichhane in custody for investigation into his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of funds of Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Cooperatives.
The former home minister will remain in police custody for three more days as he has already spent three days in custody. He is accused of misappropriating Rs 1.35 billion belonging to the cooperatives.
A parliamentary special probe committee was formed to investigate the crisis-ridden cooperatives. The committee’s report alleged that Lamichhane was involved in misusing the funds of various cooperatives, including Suryadarshan and Gorkha Media Network when he was the managing director of the now-dissolved media company. The report also holds several others responsible for their roles in the cooperative fraud.
