Former RSP lawmaker Dhaka Kumar arrested on drug trafficking charge

KATHMANDU: Former Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Dhaka Kumar Shrestha was arrested in Pokhara on Thursday on charges of drug trafficking.

According to the District Police Office, Kaski, Shrestha was arrested on the basis of the statement given by Prakash Thapa Magar, a 42-year-old resident of Triveni Rural Municipality-7 in Rolpa. Magar, who was arrested last year in possession of 97 tablets of drugs from the Baglung Buspark area in Pokhara-2, claimed he had purchased the drugs from Diya Pharmacy in Prithvi Chowk, Pokhara-9.

The pharmacy is owned by Shrestha, according to Inspector Avinashdeep GC, the acting information officer at the District Police Office, Kaski. An investigation into the case is ongoing, GC added.

RSP expelled Shrestha from general membership of the party in April last year after a leaked audio clip revealed him soliciting a bribe from medical college operator Durga Prasain.