Police fired three rounds of tear gas on Tuesday to disperse Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) supporters attempting to breach a restricted area in Pokhara. Demonstrators had gathered to protest in support of RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane, who remains in custody facing charges of cooperative fraud and organised crime.

On Tuesday, Lamichhane was brought before the Kaski District Court for a remand extension. Former Deputy Inspector General and Gorkha Media Network co-director Chhabilal Joshi was also presented.

Joshi has been held since September 22, while Lamichhane was detained on October 18 from the RSP central office and transferred to Kaski. The court initially granted six days of custody, later extended by seven more days. Due to the Tihar holiday, Lamichhane appeared before the court on Tuesday after his remand expired on October 30.

In connection with the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud case, suspects Leela Pachhai and Ram Bahadur Khanal also faced remand extension requests. Authorities discovered an unauthorised transfer of Rs30 million from the cooperative to Pachhai’s account.

Khanal, 48, a Tanahun native and shareholder in the Gorkha Group of Companies Limited, was detained by a Central Investigation Bureau team on October 25 in Kathmandu. He also owns Nature Herbs International.

The police are preparing to bring former deputy prime minister and home minister Lamichhane to Butwal for an investigation into allegations of cooperative fraud and organised crime.