Nepal's former Home Minister arrested over alleged cooperative fraud

Kathmandu, Oct 19 : Nepal's former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane was arrested over his alleged involvement in cooperative fraud and organised crime.

A team of the Central Investigation Bureau under Nepal Police took Lamichhane on Friday evening away from his party's central office in Kathmandu, as the Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant against him and 13 others hours ago for allegedly embezzling cooperative, fund and involving in an organised crime, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We have arrested Lamichhane. He will be taken to Kaski," Hobindra Bogati, the bureau's spokesperson, told media.

Lamichhane insisted that his arrest was politically motivated. "I respect the court order, but it is politically motivated. We will strongly fight against it," he told media following his arrest.

A parliamentary special investigation committee concluded last month that Lamichhane was involved in embezzling funds from cooperatives.

Lamichhane is chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, the fourth largest in the House of Representatives. He first served as deputy prime minister and home minister in December 2022 but lost the post in January 2023 after Nepal's Supreme Court scrapped his status as a member of the House of Representatives on the grounds that he did not have Nepali citizenship when he contested the elections.

In March this year, Lamichhane regained the post, and he lost it again after the coalition government he served collapsed in July.