The Kathmandu District Court has issued arrest warrants against former Interior Minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president 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 was general manager, while Joshi was vice president of the network.

The case concerns the Swarnalakshmi Savings Cooperative in Kalimati, Kathmandu, whose funds were allegedly misappropriated as part of the network’s operations. Earlier, the court had also allowed the arrest of 24 others, including Gorkha Media chairman Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, in connection with the same case.

Currently, Lamichhane and Joshi are in custody in Kaski, where they are being investigated for similar allegations involving the Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara and the Supreme Cooperative in Butwal. The Rupandehi district court had also issued an arrest warrant against the two men for cooperative fraud.

According to police, Lamichhane was arrested and taken to Pokhara on October 18, and preliminary interrogations were conducted regarding several cases of cooperative fraud. Lamichhane and Joshi deny any wrongdoing.

Lamichhane was initially arrested on October 18 from the RSP central office in Kathmandu and brought to Kaski. After an initial pre-trial detention of six days, he faced subsequent extensions of seven and ten days before the last 13 day extension on November 10.

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