Former Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Dhaka Kumar Shrestha has been arrested on drug trafficking charge.
Superintendent of Police Mohan Thapa, chief of Kaski Police, said that Shrestha was arrested on Thursday as he was found to have sold drugs.
According to Thapa, Shrestha was arrested on the basis of information provided by a drug user.
“A month ago when we asked a person arrested with drugs where he had bought it from, he said that it was from Diya Pharmacy,” SP Thapa said. “Diya Pharmacy was apparently registered in Dhaka Kumar Shrestha’s name, so we arrested him.”
SP Thapa said that police will file a drug trafficking case against Shrestha.
RSP had expelled Shrestha as the party’s lawmaker and member on April 12 last year after audio recording of him purportedly demanding Rs 20 million from promoter of B&C Medical College Durga Prasai was made public.
Shrestha, who was elected to the House of Representatives (HoR) through the Proportional Representation electoral system, could be heard telling Prasai that the amount was needed to give to RSP President Rabi Lamichhane’s men for Shrestha to become health minister.
The conversation took place at the start of January, as Prasai informed in the audio, when RSP was negotiating in the then ruling coalition also including CPN-UML to get the Health Ministry. Shrestha could be heard telling Prasai that Lamichhane would make him heath minister only if he handed over Rs 20-25 million to Lamichhane's men.
