Police on Monday raided the house of Lharkyal Lama in Budanilkantha, Kathmandu. A team led by Metropolitan Police Range (MPR) SP Pradhyumna Karki carried out the raid.

Earlier on Monday, the Parliament Secretariat on Monday said Lharkyal Lama, a UCPN (Maoist) Member of Parliament who was arrested on Sunday after 14 bullets were found in his bank locker, has been suspended. The Secretariat said they received a letter on Sunday evening from Nepal Police to Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar about Lama’s arrest. Sudharshan Kuikel, assistant spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat, said Lama was suspended as per the Constituent Assembly Rules 2014.

Clause 163 of the CA Rules states that any lawmaker charged or being investigated under criminal offences shall be suspended by the Speaker.

Lama, a former CPN-UML member, was the state minister for finance in the Jhala Nath Khanal-led government in 2011.

He resigned from the post on April 21, just 11 days after assuming office, after he ran into controversy for possessing Nepali citizenship certificate, Indian passport and a Tibetan refugee identity card.

He then quit the UML. But he later joined the Maoist party, which in February 2015 made him lawmaker.

Meanwhile, in his statement to police, Lama has said the bullets found in his bank locker do not belong to him.

“He said one of his friends had asked him to keep the bullets,” said Superintendent of Police Pradhyumna Karki, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Range, Teku. “However, no one is allowed to keep the contraband in bank lockers.” According to SP Karki, Lama also does not have licences to keep arms and ammunition.

During its investigation, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had found the bullets in Lama’s locker of Nepal Investment Bank, Durbar Marg.

The District Administration Office, Kathmandu, has remanded Lama in five-day custody.

As per new constitutional provisions, the DAO itself looks after cases related to possession of arms in which punishment does not exceed one year.

Even if found guilty, Lama will face up to one-year jail term, as the new constitution provision has stipulated that any person possessing illegal arms and ammunitions shall be slapped with a jail term of six months to nine months or a fine of Rs60,000 to Rs100,000 or both. Earlier, anyone found guilty of possessing illegal arms had to face three to five years in jail.