The Rupandehi District Court has sent Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane to prison for judicial custody.
Superintendent of Police Ranjit Singh Rathore, chief of Rupandehi police, said that Lamichhane was sent to the district prison after he was presented in the district court on Monday.
On Friday, a joint bench of Justices Ramesh Dhakal and Swikriti Parajuli at the Butwal Bench of the Tulsipur High Court issued an order to send Lamichhane to custody in connection with a fraud and organized crime case involving Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative of Butwal.
Earlier, on January 26, the Rupandehi District Court had ordered Lamichhane’s release on a bail of Rs 10 million. On February 28, Lamichhane filed an appeal at the Tulsipur High Court, demanding that the court revoke the district court’s order and release him on general date.
But the high court issued an order to send Lamichhane to custody.
Shortly after, Lamichhane was arrested from his residence at Hattigaunda in Kathmandu by a team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office and the Maharajgunj Police Circle on Friday night.
He was brought to Bhairahawa on a Yeti Airlines flight on Saturday morning.
A complaint had been lodged at the Office of the Province Cooperative Registration Officer, alleging that Butwal’s Supreme Cooperative had defrauded depositors of more than Rs 1 billion.
The complaint demanded action against the cooperative’s promoters and officials in accordance with the law. The office reported that it had received a complaint accusing the cooperative of defrauding one depositor of up to 35 million rupees. Complaints were filed at the Office of the Cooperative Registration Officer in Rapti Valley, Deukhuri, stating that more than Rs 1 billion of depositors’ savings were at risk and demanding the return of the funds.
