Police have been granted an additional five days to investigate Member of Parliament Maya Rai, who was arrested in connection with the Swarnalaxmi Cooperative savings fraud case.
On Friday, the Kathmandu District Court granted the police permission to keep Rai in custody and investigate her for five more days, according to Superintendent of Police Apil Raj Bohara at the District Police Range, Kathmandu.
On Sunday, the district court had remanded Rai to custody for three days.
A team from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office arrested Rai from Kapan in Budhanilkantha of Kathmandu on Saturday.
A Nepali Congress lawmaker from Bhojpur under the proportional representation system, Rai is accused of misappropriating savings of Swarnalaxmi Cooperative.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Hari Khatiwada, an investigation officer at the District Police Range, wrote to Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Sunday, informing him that lawmaker Rai had been arrested and was under investigation for cooperative fraud and organized crime.
Rai served as co-secretary of the Kalimati-based Swarnalaxmi Cooperative from November 20, 2017, to September 7, 2019.
On January 13, the District Government Attorney’s Office (DGAO), Kathmandu, filed a case at the Kathmandu District Court naming 39 defendants including Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane.
The DGAO demanded recovery of NPR 1.19 billion in damages from the defendants.
It, however, did not name Rai as a defendant at the time citing incomplete details of her three generations.
Lamichhane was released on a bail of Rs 6 million in the case.
The police and government attorney faced criticism for allegedly granting Rai immunity. Subsequently, the government attorney instructed the police to investigate Rai.
Following the directive, the police obtained an arrest warrant for Rai from the Kathmandu District Court. But they took a long time to arrest her.
