Himal Press 
POKHARA: In yet another incident of cooperative fraud in Pokhara, police on Sunday arrested two individuals on charges of embezzling funds from Sangharshasheel Savings and Credit Cooperative Limited in Pokhara-23 of Kaski.
Police arrested the cooperative’s chairperson, Bikram Pandey (33), originally from Tripurasundari Rural Municipality-6 of Dhading and currently residing in Nayabazar, Pokhara-8, and its secretary and manager Kamal Subedi (34) of Begnas in Pokhara-31. Subedi is also a journalist.
According to the District Police Office, Kaski, Pandey was arrested from Birauta in Pokhara-16, while Subedi was taken into custody from the cooperative’s office.
The two were presented before the Kaski District Court on Monday. The court has granted a seven-day remand for investigation.
Board members of the cooperative wrote a letter to the Office of the Cooperative Registrar in Gandaki Province on Sunday, requesting an investigation against the two under the Cooperative Act, 2017, for embezzling cooperative funds. “Based on the letter, the police detained the suspects for further inquiry,” said DSP Basanta Kumar Sharma, the spokesperson for the District Police Office, Kaski.
Meanwhile, the Kaski police issued a public notice on Monday, urging depositors of the cooperative to file complaints by January 4. Victims have been asked to submit evidence, including share certificates, passbooks, vouchers, statements, fixed deposit receipts, and citizenship documents, to support their claims of unpaid savings and shares, Sharma added.
An initial investigation conducted by the Cooperative Registrar’s Office revealed that Rs 29.6 million had been misappropriated from the cooperative.
