The Kathmandu District Court has issued arrest warrants against former home minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane and former deputy inspector general (DIG) of Nepal Police, Chhabi Lal Joshi, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of cooperative savings while serving in key roles at Gorkha Media Network.

Lamichhane served as the managing director, while Joshi was the vice-chairman of the network.

The case involves Swarnalakshmi Savings Cooperative in Kalimati, Kathmandu, whose funds were reportedly misappropriated under the network’s operations. Earlier, the court had also authorised the arrest of 24 other individuals, including Gorkha Media chair Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, in relation to the same case.

Currently, both Lamichhane and Joshi are in custody in Kaski, where they are under investigation for similar allegations involving Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara and Supreme Cooperative in Butwal. The Rupandehi District Court had also issued an arrest warrant against the pair for cooperative fraud.

According to police, Lamichhane was arrested and taken to Pokhara on October 18, and preliminary interrogations have been completed regarding multiple cooperative fraud cases. Both Lamichhane and Joshi deny any wrongdoing.

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 the latest 13-day extension on November 10.

Joshi was arrested on September 22 from Kathmandu on the charge of misappropriating funds of Suryadarshan Saving and Credit Cooperative Limited in Pokhara. Joshi was one of the founders of Gorkha Media Network.