CPN-UML lawmaker Laxmi Mahato Koiri, who is accused in a murder case, has been suspended.

House of Representatives Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire on Tuesday suspended Koiri following a letter from the Nepal Police seeking the Speaker’s support to arrest the UML lawmaker, who has been absconding for months.

According to officials at the Secretariat of the Federal Parliament, Koiri has been suspended as per Rule 248(3) of the House of Representatives Regulation 2023.

As the meeting of the House of Representatives is not going on, the suspension notice is being posted on the notice board of the Federal Parliament Secretariat as per the instructions of the Speaker.

Two days ago, Nepal Police has written to Speaker Ghimire, for the second time, requesting his support to arrest Koiri.

Earlier, on January 20, former deputy prime minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane had also directed Nepal Police Headquarters to arrest UML lawmaker Koiri.

Despite being on the police’s wanted list, Koiri attended the House meeting on January 10 and voted in favour of a trust motion tabled by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Before that, he had also attended the oath-taking ceremony of new lawmakers elected through November 20 polls.

Koiri, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Mahottari-1 in November last year, has been accused of murdering Assistant Sub Inspector Thaman Bishwakarma during the Madhesh protest.

Koiri is accused of dragging the policeman from a police van and killing him on September 11, 2015. The Dhanusha District Court had released Koiri on a bail of Rs100,000. But the Janakpur High Court, overturning the decision of the district court, had issued an arrest warrant against him.