An arrest warrant has been issued in Birgunj, Parsa, against Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President and former home minister Rabi Lamichhane and 13 other individuals.

Similar arrest warrants have been issued against Lamichhane, among other suspects, on cooperatives scams in Kaski, Rupandehi, Kathmandu and Chitwan. Police from the respective districts have been interrogating Lamichhane and others accused on fraud charges.

A high-ranking police source said that the arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday against 14 people, including Lamichhane, to allow police to interrogate them in relation to the Birgunj-based Sano Paila Cooperative fraud case.

Interpol has issued a red notice against GB Rai, who is the former director and patron of Sano Paila Cooperative. Rai, however, is yet to be booked under the law.

The cooperative, which had jurisdiction to operate in wards 8, 13, 14, 18, and 19 of the then Birgunj Sub-metropolitan City (currently metropolitan city), had collected deposits worth Rs1.35 billion from about 800 depositors.

The cooperative is accused of providing loans to non-members from outside Birgunj against the cooperative law. It is alleged that about Rs920 million of the savings were misappropriated by investing outside its jurisdiction.

This cooperative has disbursed loans of Rs13.7 million to Nature Hub International, Rs18.5 million to Nature Nest Pvt Ltd, and Rs11 million rupees to Spring Wood Real Estate, all led by Rai.

Similarly, it has been revealed that Rs68.3 million in loans were disbursed in Bishal Tamang's name, Rs18.6 million in Chhabilal Joshi's name, Rs10.6 million in Tirtharaj Lamichhane’s name, and Rs20.7 million in Bimala Poudel’s name.

Lamichhane is also being investigated for embezzling funds from Suryadarshan Cooperative of Kaski, Supreme Cooperative of Butwal, Swarnalaxmi Cooperative of Kathmandu and Sahara Cooperative of Chitwan.

Lamichhane was taken to Chitwan on Tuesday for interrogation on alleged embezzlement of deposits from the Bharatpur-based Sahara Cooperative.

The RSP chief Lamichhane, who was arrested in Kathmandu on October 18, was earlier taken to Kaski, then Rupandehi and then to Kathmandu for interrogations on embezzlement of deposits of cooperatives based in the respective districts.

Just a month before Lamichhane’s arrest, Chabbilal Joshi, the initial founder of Gorkha Media Network, was also arrested for misusing the cooperative funds.

Rai, Lamichhane, Joshi, and other partners are accused of investing nearly Rs1 billion of cooperatives money in the Gorkha Media Network, which ran the now-defunct Galaxy 4k Television. Rai was the chairperson of the media house, while Lamichhane was the managing director.

Lamichhane had quit the media to join politics in June 2022. Several investigations by the police and Pokhara Metropolitan City, among other agencies, and by several media houses found his involvement in the cooperative fraud. Yet he has been bluntly refuting their findings, terming them ‘fabricated’.

Later, a Parliamentary Special Probe Committee was constituted to investigate the cooperative scam with two representatives each from the Nepali Congress and UML, and one each from CPN (Maoist Centre), RSP and Rastriya Prajantra Party. The committee, which took over three months to complete the investigation report, recommended that Lamichhane should be booked and prosecuted for his role in diverting cooperative money to the Gorkha Media Network.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police arrested Lamichhane from his party office as per the House committee’s recommendation. They took him to Kaski, Pokhara, where a case was filed against him.

Initially, an investigation was launched against Lamichhane for cooperative fraud and organised crime. Then the Kaski police launched an investigation into money laundering.

Reportedly, police officers have also seized checks signed by Lamichhane to repay the interest on loans from the various cooperatives.

Following the arrest of Lamichhane, sympathisers of RSP have been staging street protests, claiming his arrest was politically motivated.

On Wednesday, RSP cadres staged a protest in front of the District Police Office in Chitwan, when the police were interrogating former home minister Lamichhane in the District Attorney Office, Chitwan. A clash ensued between the RSP cadres and the police.

According to Prakash Poudel, the chief district officer of Chitwan, eight policemen were injured during the clash. However, no police personnel was seriously wounded, Poudel said.

“The protesters didn’t sustain any serious injuries during the protest,” Poudel told the Post. “All the injured have been discharged from hospital after general medication.”

A supplementary application was registered against Lamichhane with the Chitwan police on November 20 on the charge that he misused the funds of the Sahara Cooperatives of Chitwan. Following the application against Lamichhane, Police took him to Chitwan from Kathmandu on Tuesday to record his statement. As much as Rs18 million from the cooperative was allegedly diverted to the Gorkha Media Network.