RSP President Lamichhane suspended as lawmaker

Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane has been suspended from the post of lawmaker.

Issuing a notice on Monday, the Parliament Secretariat informed that former Home Minister Lamichhane, who was elected from Chitwan constituency-2, has been suspended from his position as a lawmaker.

The District Police Office, Kaski on December 16 had concluded its investigation into the cooperative fraud case involving Lamichhane and submitted its report to the District Attorney’s Office on Monday.

The report recommended prosecuting 51 individuals, including Lamichhane, former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, Ram Prasad Khanal, and Lila Pachhai, who are currently in police custody. Most of the other suspects remain at large.

They were charged with cooperative fraud, organized crime, and money laundering. Kaski police had also recommended recovery of around Rs 1.51bn. The investigation revealed that Lamichhane and others were involved in irregularities concerning funds from Suryadarshan Cooperative in Kaski, which were allegedly diverted to Gorkha Media Network and misused.

Evidence gathered during the course of investigation includes checks issued by Lamichhane to repay loans taken from multiple cooperatives. Lamichhane, however, has claimed that the checks in question were left in a drawer during his tenure as the managing director of Gorkha Media Network, and someone else may have filled them out without his consent. 

The investigation, which began with Suryadarshan Cooperative, expanded to four other cooperatives: Kathmandu’s Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, Chitwan’s Sahara Chitwan Cooperative, Birgunj’s Sano Paila Cooperative, and Nepalgunj’s Samanata Cooperative. 

Police investigation had revealed that Lamichhane and his associates took out loans, including Rs 4.6m each from Swarnalakshmi Cooperative, to purchase vehicles in Lamichhane and GB Rai’s names.