Chairman and MD at Gorkha Media by embezzling the savings of shoemakers, bangles and tea sellers

Haji Ali saved some money while working in Saudi and Qatar for 7 years. After returning to Pokhara, he opened a cosmetic shop in Tundikhel. Mrs. Ramzani had with her some money that she had earned earlier by selling churapotes in the nearby village. Two years ago, the employees of Surya Darshan went to the store and asked them to open an account saying that they would get good interest.

Haji also added the savings he brought from abroad and deposited 20 lakhs for the first time and 10 lakhs for the second time and 30 lakh rupees. They went to the cooperative to ask for the return of the savings after the problem started in July/August of 079. The employees of the cooperative returned it saying that it was not enough for one year. On 02 Jan 079, Ramzani and Haji went again to ask for their savings back.

Ramjani Nisha with her husband lying in bed. Photos: Deepak Pariyar/Kantipur

Employees of the cooperative said that there was no money and the board of directors was not in touch. Haji returned home and wept bitterly. He fell inside the house crying. "We don't have children, we are just old people," said Ramzani, "He collapsed because he thought that the money he had kept for his old age had sunk." At the same time, when he was taken to the Manipal Teaching Hospital, the doctor said that he had suffered a stroke, which led to the failure of both kidneys. Ramjani kept her husband in ICU for 15 days and brought her home.

As soon as Haji fell ill, the shop was closed. Ramjani is seeking a loan and getting treatment for her husband. After a year of dialysis in a private hospital, it was the turn of the Pokhara Institute of Health Sciences. Haji cannot move from his bed. They try to speak, but are not understood. All night long. She has not been able to go out of the house because she has to take care of her husband. Now the same cooperative made this happen,' she said, 'even if the money was drowned, if life was secure, then you could have eaten with sorrow and happiness, what will people do when they are like this?' Ramzani has no way to replace her husband's kidney after Suryadarshan embezzled the savings. The doctor has suggested that the paralyzed patient should be kept on dialysis for the rest of his life as the kidney replacement is only expensive.

'Even if I had a son or daughter, it would have been a base, I don't have anyone. Runi also cried so much, her tears have run out,' she kissed her husband's forehead and said, 'If money comes from Suryadarshan, she can be treated, if that doesn't happen, there is no other way but to die. He could have died paying off the debt he had taken from others. Nothing else is needed.' He did not understand that the government did not listen to the problems of the cooperative victims. He is of the opinion that there are no rumors about the involvement of people in the government in cooperative fraud. She says, "If they didn't do anything, there wouldn't have been a rumor."

Her sister-in-law, Mumtaz Ali Mian, sees the state protecting those involved in co-operative fraud. "The name of Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane has appeared in the report of Pokhara Metropolitan City," he says, "how can a parliamentary inquiry committee be formed when he himself is the one running the government?" He alleges that the Home Minister is playing a game of protecting his seat rather than providing relief to government victims.

Vimala, who came to Pokhara with her husband 8 years ago from Udaipur, sews shoes at Tundikhel, a Nepalese village. Dil Bahadur Utisaro, whose heart valve has been replaced, cannot work. 10-year-old daughter Devyani also has a hole in her heart. To treat her husband and daughter, she saved around 14 lakh rupees daily in Suryadarshan. The money that was collected was sunk into the cooperative. On February 25, 2007, he had to be admitted to the hospital after reaching Pokhara metropolis and collapsing in Bilauna.

Vimala Nepali with family at the shop.

'The husband cannot do heavy work. Sometimes the daughter's body swells. Couldn't get to the hospital on time. The rent has gone up for 6 months. I haven't been able to pay the fees of my two daughters,' she said at the same time, 'I have to pay the debt of my relatives. Earned money is trapped. Where should I go, what should I do? I have not been able to think of anything. The doctor said that the surgery should be done on my daughter between the age of 11-12 years. Now, due to lack of money, she has not been able to take it in time for follow-up. While sitting in the shop sewing other people's shoes and slippers, she thinks, 'If only this needle and thread would sew her daughter's heart.' He withdrew the amount from the bank and deposited it in Suryadarshan Cooperative in the hope of getting a little interest. Now he is alone in the family after the group of directors absconded after embezzling the money of the savers. I kept my share of land by giving shares to my two sons. I sold it and put it in the cooperative, now I have to live in a small bush," he said. His eldest son has passed away. The youngest son lives separately. Even the youngest son does not look at the property after it is sunk in the cooperative.

Suryadarshan is going back and forth between Sarangkot and Pokhara by taking a loan to come to the protest program of the Suryadarshan Sattapidit Sangharsh Samiti. "I had saved money so that we would be able to live in old age after my sons and daughters had gone their own way," he said while working in the fields, showing the bundles raised in both hands . He understood that although the cooperative was running well at first, it started to run into problems after the launch of Galaxy Television. 'Galaxy TV was opened in the plan to rob the cooperative,' he said, 'the reason why Ravi Lamichhane came to the home minister was to destroy the evidence of cooperative fraud, to influence the investigation and to gain power by going to the government.' The family of Suraj KC from Pokhara is staying on rent. She is a heart patient and her mother is diabetic and hypertensive. It has been 14 years since Casey's 'open heart surgery' and the addition of a 'prosthetic metallic valve'. He has now lost his temper after hearing that the co-operative embezzled Rs.

Pokhara-18 After selling the property in Lamagaon in June 079, mother Madhu gave her two sons Suraj and Vikram a share. Suraj deposited Rs 65 lakh and Vikram Rs 70 lakh in Suryadarshan. She also deposited her share of 4 lakh rupees in Surya Darshan, saying that the money coming from the interest will be used for medicine. From July to August, problems started to appear in the cooperative. No interest accrued, no check cashed.

Mother-in-law, husband, a daughter and a son are currently on the shoulders of Suraj's wife Asha. After the interest stopped coming from the cooperative, she took a loan and set up a tea shop on the side of the Pokhara-Baglung highway. "Before buying, I persuaded them not to pay even if it was 2-4 lakh rupees. Even when I went to ask for my own money, she said, "I borrowed one lakh rupees. How much is earned from the shop and, rent had to be paid, food had to be eaten. Reaching is not enough.'

Asha KC cooking tea.

She said that she enrolled her daughter in a government school from this year because she could not pay the education fees of her daughter who was studying in a private school. She thinks that the rent of the shop and the room has gone up for months, the difficulty of making ends meet. If it was said that the cooperative is happening like this, it would have been put to an end. It was the basis for living. If this money does not come, our life is wasted. What should I do? Shall we look after the family or go to earn?', she sounded helpless.

Due to chronic illness, Suraj had to drop out while studying Electronics and Communication Engineering in the fourth semester at Pokhara Engineering College. Since the heart surgery, he has to take 3-4 types of medicine regularly. Sometimes they are unconscious. You have to go to the hospital for health checkup 2-3 times a month. You should see a psychiatrist from time to time. Due to lack of money, he also had to borrow medicine. Asha said that Suryadarshan Cooperative is responsible for such a situation.

'He is hurting himself. Even after taking care of herself, she has to take care of her husband. I say let's suffer for 2-4 days,' Asha asked, 'I can't say what will happen to this family if money doesn't come for 2-4 months.' The mother is worried about her son's condition. He no longer has money to take medication for himself. There is no ration, no medicine at home. I feel worried seeing the condition of my elder son,' she said, 'Being a mother, what is the biggest sorrow?'

Kiran Shrestha, the coordinator of Suryadarshan Chattapidit Sangharsh Samiti, says that the effect of co-operative fraud will be seen for a long time, just like the effect of Corona is seen in the current economy. The condition of the victim is pathetic. When the money sinks, there is discord in the family, there is divorce, there is no way to get medical treatment, to educate the children," he said. "The standard of living has gone down. It has become painful.'' He says that the victim has reached a state of fatigue when he has to go to many places for the return of his savings. Everyone saw cooperatives as a support for old age. Treat the disease. Consider the cost of medicine. Those who do not have a pension are considered pensioners. I trusted the cooperatives that much," he said, "we believed that the cooperatives were registered by the government according to the law. Now when there is a problem in the cooperative, it is not clear if there is a government or not.' After that, Pokhara metropolis formed an investigation committee and prepared the first financial analysis report. Based on the report, after the police investigation, the district attorney's office filed a case against 19 people on October 18.

It is mentioned in the report that Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhane also took a loan. The report states that 18,700 savers have misappropriated their savings and 433 are debtors. Lamichhane and GB's Gorkha Media have embezzled the savings of thousands of common people by bringing 958 million 89 thousand from Pokhara's Suryadarshan, Rupandehi's Supreme, Kathmandu's Swarnalakshmi and Chitwan's Sahara.