Bishnu was the managing director of the ULI while Krishna was its training director. The Chhetri brothers, along with ULI Chairman Kashi Ram Gurung, have been convicted of selling social security schemes to people without legal permission and running pyramid model network marketing programmes.

The ULI had duped Rs3.79 billion from 368,710 people both in the country and overseas, offering two illegal “assurance” and health schemes. Gurung was arrested in 2012 from Pashupatinagar, Ilam. After repeated failures to nab the brothers, Nepal Police sought help from Interpol, which issued a red-corner notice on January 16, 2012.

Police had entirely focused on arresting the duo after Krishna posted a photo on Facebook claiming that his brother Bishnu had been murdered. In the picture widely shared on Facebook and other social media, Bishnu was found lying with patches of blood and covered by a white veil with cotton placed in his nostrils.

Bishnu was said to have been shot dead in Bhainsepati, Lalitpur. This episode led to the reopening of the probe into the brothers.

It was found later that Bishnu had been in constant touch with his wife, who lives in Bhainsepati. Subsequent investigations also revealed that the brothers had been working under the guise of fish traders in Himanchal Pradesh and owned some hotels there.

“Both the brothers had obtained the Indian “ration-card”, said SSP Sarvendra Khanal, chief of the Metropolitan Police Crime Division. Ration card is part of the social security scheme of the Indian government that allows its citizens to buy daily essentials in subsidised rates. They were brought to Nepal via Gadda Chowk, Mahendranagar. On Friday, the Chhetri brothers were flown to Kathmandu from Dhangadi.

The duo, along with 10 others, had been convicted by the Lalitpur District Court on March 31, 2014 for defrauding the general public by operating banks and financial institutions without permission from the authorities. The court had slapped a jail term of three years and a fine of over Rs10.62 million.

Before it was banned by the government, the ULI had been charging clients Rs15,000 promising accidental death insurance of Rs500,000 and insurance coverage of Rs100,000 for natural death. Under its health plan, the company charged Rs15,750 for life-long free health check-ups and treatment package at hospitals in 19 districts.

The government probe had concluded that the ULI violated the Bank and Financial Institutions Act, Insurance Act, Securities Act, Cooperatives Act, Foreign Exchange Act, Revenue Leakage (Control) Act and Consumer Rights Protection Act, among others.

Before it was closed, the ULI used its political clout to venture into new businesses—real estate, airlines and, department stores.

It had also expanded its business abroad, mainly to the countries having strong presence of migrant Nepali workers.

For Unity Air, the company had acquired licence to operate both domestic and international flights. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal did not issue the air operator certificate after the ban.