Lamichhane remanded in custody for 13 more days

The Kaski District Court has extended the custody of Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane for an additional 13 days, allowing further investigation into allegations of cooperative fund embezzlement and organized crime. This marks the fourth time the court has granted police permission to detain Lamichhane for inquiries related to the case.

On Nov 5, the court had previously extended his detention for 10 days. Justice Nabaraj Dahal’s bench issued the latest remand order, which also applies to former Gorkha Media Vice-chair Chhabilal Joshi, Geeta Pachhai, and Ram Bahadur Khanal.

Lamichhane was taken into custody by a Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) team on Oct 18 at his party’s office in Kathmandu. The former minister and several associates are accused of embezzling funds from the Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative in Pokhara. The arrests came after a parliamentary investigation revealed alleged financial misappropriation involving millions of rupees from the cooperative.