Former Home Minister and RSVP Chairman Ravi Lamichhane and former DIG Chabilal Joshi will also be investigated for money laundering offences. The Kaski District Court on Thursday allowed the police to investigate those who were arrested in organized co-operative fraud related offenses for money laundering as well.

The District Public Prosecutor's Office and the police had submitted a report on Thursday seeking a one-time extension of 25 days for investigation into the crime of money laundering. During the debate in the bench of Judge Chandrakant Paudel, the lawyer for the government side said that during the investigation into the crime of money laundering, the documents requested from various government offices, organizations and banks were not received and statements were still pending, so they should be detained and further investigated.

'As we are preparing to prosecute the case for asset cleansing, we need many documents including bank statements, details of assets, details of tax paid to the government according to income,' said lawyer Yuvraj Parajuli, who argued on behalf of the cooperative victims, 'because it will take time to collect all of them, 25 days were requested but Received only 7 days. It may take more time to complete the investigation as there is also a Tihar holiday.

The court has also allowed an investigation into asset laundering against Leela Pacchai, a former employee of Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara. Former DIG Joshi was arrested on October 6, and is now in Kaski police custody. Lamichhane was arrested last Friday. The court ordered the investigation of Lamichhane, Joshi and Pacchai, who are connected with the Suryadarshan Cooperative fraud, in the crime of money laundering. Kaski Police Spokesperson DSP Vasant Kumar Sharma said, "Now the investigation will proceed in all three crimes."

In the case of organized crime, the time limit for investigation is 60 days, while in the case of money laundering, the investigation can be carried out by detention for 90 days. It has been more than a month since Joshi was arrested. The court may allow Lamichhane and Joshi to be detained for another two months to investigate the money laundering case, as the term will be matched with the person arrested initially. Lamichhane and Joshi are accused of misappropriating the funds of the cooperative by transferring them to Gorkha media. Lamichhane is the former Managing Director and Joshi the former Vice President of Gorkha Media. District Attorney Kamala Kafle, Assistant District Attorney Bipinraj Tiwari and Shantidevi Sharma argued on behalf of the government in the debate on Thursday for extension of time. Lawyers Yuvraj Parajuli and Veda Bahadur Bista argued on behalf of the cooperative victims. 

According to advocate Parajuli, Lamichhane, who was sitting in the audience, was questioned by the police after his lawyer made him sign a paper. Then Lamichhane suddenly got angry. He got angry saying why he was present in the police court with a weapon. After that, the armed police came out of the courtroom," he said. "He signed the petition of illegal treatment against him without even allowing him to meet his lawyer in custody, which was later submitted to the judge." 

According to advocate Parajuli, the judge granted permission after Lamichhane's lawyer requested time to speak for him. Later, while speaking, Lamichhane said, "The police are abusing me at the behest of two-thirds of the government, they have taken revenge to such an extent that how many times do they have to pass the same class?" 

His anger did not stop there. Yes, I have committed organized crime. I have committed organized crime by building a hospital in Kalikot, by rescuing girls from abroad, by providing relief to the flood victims,” he said. Then the judge "ruled" Paudel not to talk out of context. After that, he calmed down a bit, said Advocate Parajuli. "After the judge stopped him, he apologized for his presentation and said that he had faith only in the court and not in anyone else," he said. Earlier on Sunday, Lamichhane expressed his anger towards Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in the court premises even when he was brought to the court for the first time.

Senior advocates Narayan Ghimire and Hariprasad Subedi and advocates Narayan Kandel, Padmaraj Sharma and Madhukumar Chaulagai and Sovita Gautam, who is also a RSVP MP, argued on behalf of Lamichhane on Thursday. Similarly, advocate Jagannath Dhakal argued from Joshi's side. They submitted the argument that there is no justification for the detention and investigation, and that the extension of time and again is beyond the principles of criminal justice. 

Earlier, when bringing the court, Lamichhane and Joshi were kept in the Srestedar's room before the session started and after it was over. After the cooperative victim protested, both of them were kept in the rest room where other detainees were held on Thursday. After Lamichhane was taken inside the court, his wife Nikita Paudel was also stopped by the police at the gate. After getting the notification that the deadline has been extended, the RSWP workers protesting at Waichowk in Pokhara broke the prohibited area and proceeded towards Sahid Chowk through Rashtrabank Chowk. 

Demonstration of co-op victims by placing stones on a plate 

The oppressed women of Pokhara staged a protest on Thursday by placing stones and spoons on plates. They protested at Mustang Chowk demanding the return of their savings saying that they had nothing but stones to eat after they did not get back the money they deposited in the cooperative. They demand that the culprits in the

co-operative fraud case should be prosecuted and their savings should be returned. The protest was organized by Suryadarshan Suffragette Struggle and Ad Hoc Committee and Cooperative Sufferer Association Kaski.