The Kaski District Court has extended the detention of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane for an additional 13 days to allow further investigation into alleged cooperative fraud, organised crime, and money laundering charges.

On Sunday, the court approved a 13-day remand for Lamichhane and three others detained on similar charges. A single bench of district Judge Navaraj Dahal granted the extension of custody remand, as confirmed by court spokesperson Suraj Adhikari.

The others in detention include former Nepal Police DIG Chhabilal Joshi, co-director of Gorkha Media Network, along with Leela Pachhai and Ram Bahadur Khanal, all suspected of similar offences.

Lamichhane was initially arrested on October 18 from the RSP central office in Kathmandu and brought to Kaski. Following an initial six-day remand, he faced subsequent extensions of seven and ten days before this latest 13-day extension.

Lamichhane, along with several other individuals, is accused of misappropriating funds from the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Savings and Credit Cooperative. The arrest followed a parliamentary probe which linked him and others to the embezzlement of millions of rupees from the cooperative.

A parliamentary special probe committee, formed in May to investigate crisis-ridden cooperatives, concluded that Lamichhane was involved in misusing millions of rupees funnelled into Gorkha Media Network from various cooperatives when he was managing director of the now-defunct media company that operated Galaxy 4K Television. This alleged misuse occurred before he entered politics in June 2022.

Lamichhane has consistently denied any involvement in the misappropriation of cooperative funds. However, the report of the parliamentary committee has concluded that Rs650 million from five credit cooperatives, including the Pokhara-based Surya Darshan Cooperative, Butwal-based Supreme Cooperatives, Chitwan-based Sahara Cooperatives, Birgunj-based Sano Paila Cooperatives, and Kathmandu-based Swarnalaxmi Cooperatives, were diverted to the Gorkha Media Network.

Meanwhile, the RSP leaders and cadres staged demonstrations in Mahendrapul on Sunday demanding unconditional release of their party chair. They took out demonstration marches that converged into a corner meeting at Mahendrapul.

Several RSP leaders addressed the corner meet and critised the KP Sharma Oli-led government for ‘keeping Lamichhane in custody for a long time illegally.’ They accused the government of ‘misusing state power to frame an innocent politician over false accusations.’

Addressing the meeting, RSP vice-chair DP Aryal said that the party would strongly fight against the government’s atrocities. He asserted that there were no disputes regarding party leadership and Lamichhane would remain chairman for a long time.