Himal Press 
POKHARA: Detention hearings on cases of cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering continued at the Kaski District Court on Thursday as well. While government attorneys presented their arguments over the past two days, lawyers representing the plaintiffs argued on Thursday.
Senior advocates Dr Surendra Bhandari and Dr Dinesh Tripathi, along with advocates Yubaraj Parajuli, Bed Bahadur (BB) Bista, Punya Prasad Parajuli and Ram Chandra Gautam were among the six legal professionals who argued on behalf of the plaintiffs on Thursday. The lawyers strongly advocated for the defendants to remain detained during the trial to ensure further investigation and the recovery of cooperative depositors’ funds.
According to Rajan Khanal, the registrar of the district court, legal professionals representing the plaintiffs would present their arguments on Friday as well.
A total of 63 individuals and organizations, including former Home Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane, have been defendants in the case related to the misuse of deposits from Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Saving and Credit Cooperatives. The Kaski District Government Attorney’s Office has demanded compensation of a combined Rs 1.51 billion from the defendants.
Former director of Gorkha Media Network, Chhabilal Joshi, who is also a former DIG of Nepal Police; Leela Pachhai partner of Gorkha Media Network’s Chairperson GB Rai; Ram Bahadur Khanal, director of Nature Herbs, former Member of Gandaki Province Assembly and former vice chair of the cooperative Mina Gurung; cooperative’s former treasurer Arati Gurung and former director Krishna Bahadur Gurung are among the defendants.
Police have said in their investigation report that deposits from the cooperatives were siphoned to Gorkha Media Network.
Lamichhane served as managing director of Gorkha Media Network before he left the media company to form RSP ahead of the 2022 general elections.
A bench of District Judge Nitij Rai is hearing the case.
