RSP President Rabi Lamichhane
KATHMANDU: Former Deputy Prime Minister and incumbent Chairperson of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was arrested Friday evening for an investigation into the misappropriation of cooperative deposits.
A team of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Lamichhane from his party office in Banasthali, Kathmandu, after the Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant for him. He faces charges of misappropriating funds from Suryadarshan Cooperatives in Pokhara and allegedly channeling them into Gorka Media Network.
Some RSP leaders had already anticipated the possibility of Lamichhane’s arrest on Friday and had urged party members via social media to gather at the party office. Despite hundreds of RSP supporters gathering at the RSP party office, there was no attempt to obstruct the police procedures.
Earlier, RSP’s Acting Spokesperson Manish Jha had said that they would allow police to perform their duty.
Lamichhane chose to travel to Pokhara by road in a convoy of 8-9 vehicles, accompanied by party officials, rather than accepting authorities’ proposal to fly him there.
The CIB team will hand Lamichhane over to the District Police Office, Kaski, which is investigating the misappropriation of deposits from Suryadarshan Cooperatives.
Gorkha Media Network Chairperson Gitendra Babu Rai is on the run, while Director, former DIG of Nepal Police, Chhabi Raj Joshi, is in the custody of Kaski police for investigation.
A parliamentary special investigation committee, headed by UML lawmaker Surya Thapa, had earlier recommended legal action against Lamichhane after finding evidence that cooperative funds were improperly directed to Gorka Media Network. Lamichhane has acknowledged his role in using these funds but denied bringing funds from the cooperative himself.
Investigation into Organized Crime
A letter sent by Kaski police to Kathmandu Police Range and CIB on Friday evening states that Lamichhane would be investigated for fraud and organized crime. “As the honorable Kaski District Court has issued an arrest warrant on October 18, 2024 for the arrest of the person with the following name and address in connection with the investigation of fraud and organized crime as defined by the Cooperative Act in the case involving Gitendra Babu Rai and others, the arrest warrant is attached herewith,” the letter sent by Kaski police reads.
This indicates that the police will try Lamichhane for organized crime and cooperative fraud.
A History of Controversy
The rise of Lamichhane, who transitioned from the media to politics, has been rapid. He elevated not only his own stature but also that of the RSP which was formed just six months before the 2022 general election.
However, controversy followed Lamichhane both before and after his entry into politics. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 2022 election.
He became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in the government led by Maoist Center Chairperson Pushpakamal Dahal. However, he couldn’t remain in government long due to a citizenship controversy.
After the Supreme Court found him guilty in the dual citizenship case, Lamichhane lost not only his parliamentary seat but was also removed from his position as president of the RSP. He later regained citizenship and was re-elected to the House of Representatives from the Chitwan-2 seat.
He again became Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister. But the controversy didn’t leave Lamichhane alone. Soon after his second election to parliament, he became embroiled in the cooperative fraud case.
The parliamentary special investigation committee has determined that Lamichhane spent cooperative funds on Gorka Media Network. He himself has already admitted responsibility for the money that he spent while serving as the Managing Director of Gorka Media Network.
Even before entering politics, while in the media sector, Lamichhane was no stranger to controversy. As a television presenter, he faced charges of abetting the suicide of a former colleague. Lamichhane was arrested after Shalikram Pudasaini committed suicide at a hotel in Chitwan. Before his suicide, Pudasaini had recorded a video claiming Lamichhane had driven him to suicide. Based on this video, police arrested Lamichhane and two others. After spending 12 days in Chitwan custody, Lamichhane was released on a bail of Rs 500,000.
When a case was filed against him in 2017, protests by his supporters forced authorities to impose a curfew in Bharatpur, Chitwan. The overwhelming support he received from the public encouraged him to enter politics.
