Depositors left in lurch as promoters of Sunrise Cooperatives vanish

LUMBINI: The directors of Sunrise Multipurpose Cooperative, Butwal, have gone into hiding after posting a closure notice at their office.

The cooperative’s office at Devinagar in Butwal Sub-metropolitan City-13 was abruptly shut down on April 13, leaving employees and depositors in the dark.

The notice, issued under the name of the ‘Sunrise Family’, states that Chairperson Aakash Bhattarai embezzled the cooperative’s funds and that the office will remain closed until he is located. It has assured depositors that the process of returning depositors’ savings will begin once Bhattarai is found. The notice also appealed to the depositors to help track down Chairperson Bhattarai.

“Due to security concerns and the inability to operate normally amid protests by depositors, the cooperative will remain closed,” the notice reads.
The sudden shutdown and disappearance of staff have left depositors helpless.

Deepa Rajali from Tilottama Municipality-4, who arrived at the cooperative office after learning about the closure, said no one from the cooperative was reachable. “I was depositing savings by cutting my expenses in the cooperatives. But now the directors have vanished. The government must take action against them,” she demanded.

Similarly, Smriti Pandey Paudel from Dipnagar in Butwal-7, Deepnagar, also expressed her helplessness. “I was depositing Rs 100–200 daily by cutting lunch expenses of my children. Now the cooperative is gone,” she lamented.

Kiran Gurung from Devinagar in Butwal-11, who deposited earnings from his small business in the cooperative, is now concerned about his business. “I came to withdraw money to pay the rental fee for my business. I realized I had been cheated when I saw the office closed,” he added.

The cooperative, which collected daily savings from its members, is suspected to have raised tens of millions of rupees. Chairperson Bhattarai and Treasurer Basant Bhattarai have switched off their phones, while Vice-chairperson Ramesh Bhattarai and Secretary Laxmi Adhikari claim they too have been in the receiving end. They claim that they only provided copies of their citizenship certificate during registration of the cooperative due to family ties.

The exact number of depositors who have been defrauded has not been ascertained yet. They protested at the cooperative office on Wednesday. Victims say they will continue the protest until their money is returned.

Government Inaction

Although cooperative promoters have fled with tens of millions of rupees, authorities have yet to take cognizance of the matter. Cooperative Registrar of Lumbini Province Government, Madhu Kirshna Paudel, said they cannot take any action immediately.

A total of 130 cooperatives have been registered after the provincial government was formed in 2017. A total of 848 cooperatives are under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.

Paudel admitted that they have not been able to conduct proper monitoring and supervision of these institutions due shortage of staff and resources.