Ravi Lamichhane, the former home minister and chairman of RSVP, who is in the custody of the Kaski police, was brought to Bhairahawa by air on Tuesday and his statement has started at the district attorney's office. Lamichhane, former managing director of Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd., has been brought to Bhairahawa to investigate the misappropriation of cooperative savings and organized crime. A separate case is being registered against him in Rupandehi District Court.

It is seen that Lamichhane took a loan of 2 crores from Supreme Savings and Loan Cooperative which has an office in Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City-9 on Chait 18, 2077. Out of the Rs 2 crore loan, Rs 1 crore 96 lakh was taken to Gorkha Media after deducting the service fee from the organization. A separate loan of Rs 1 crore was deposited in Gorkha Media's account with Global IME Bank in the name of Lamichhane and Roshni Gurung. Lamichhane was managing director at Gorkha Media when the loan was taken. He was brought to Bhairahawa to investigate this matter. 

District Attorney Premraj Paudel along with other investigating officers took Lamichhane's statement at the District Attorney's office on Tuesday afternoon. According to the sources, the investigating officers asked questions focusing on the loan that went to Gorkha Media in the name of Lamichhane, the deposit vouchers and the money that went to Gorkha Media from various individuals and institutions from Supreme. But in response to most of the questions, Lamichhane revealed his ignorance. "His answer is that he is not aware of the money being deposited in Gorkha media from Supreme and he does not even know the person who collected the money," said the source.

According to the current investigation by the police, Sagar KC, the manager of Supreme Cooperative, endorsed the loan vouchers in the name of Lamichhane. KC, who has a house in Malika rural municipality-8 of Gulmi, is absconding now. After KC endorsed the voucher, Roshni Gurung deposited the amount in the bank account in the name of Gorkha Media.  During the

statement, Lamichhane also defended the loan from Supreme in the name of Gorkha Media's former vice president, former DIG Chabilal Joshi Banjade. In the investigation, it has been seen that a loan of 25 million rupees was transferred from Supreme in the name of Joshi. When Joshi took the loan on January 29, 2077, the institution deducted a service charge of Rs 5 lakh. It is also mentioned in the report of the Parliamentary Inquiry Special Committee that the loan taken from the cooperative in the name of Lamichhane and Joshi has been deposited in the account of Gorkha Media in Global IME Bank.

Lamichhane's statement was not completed on Tuesday, so it will also be on Wednesday. Attorney Paudel of the Public Prosecutor's Office said that the statement will start at 10 o'clock on Wednesday. "Today (Tuesday), more than 20 questions and answers have been conducted, but it is yet to be transcribed," he said, "tomorrow too, after the statement, it will be transcribed." He said that it will continue until the statement is completed. After the statement on Tuesday, former Home Minister Lamichhane has been kept at the district police office in Bhairahawa. 

Kumar Ramtel and Shiv Bahadur Gurung, who were brought to Bhairahawa from Kaski police custody, were sent to Kathmandu on Tuesday after making a statement. After the statement in Bhairahawa, Lamichhane is also ready to be taken to the capital to investigate the embezzlement of Swarnalakshmi Sahakari of Kathmandu. 

Gorkha Media's former managing director Lamichhane, former vice-president Joshi, former president and patron of Supreme Cooperative Gitendrababu (GB) Rai, former secretary Dipesh Pun, Kumar Ramtel and around 40 people have been arrested and investigated for the crime of cooperative fraud and organized crime. Most of them, including Rai, are absconding. Supreme's employee Roshni Gurung, who deposited money in the name of Lamichhane, has been released on bail from the district court. 

Joshi, who is in the custody of the Kaski police, was also brought to Bhairahawa and his statement was taken earlier. He is currently in the custody of Kaski police. Joshi was arrested on October 6 and Lamichhane on October 2 from Kathmandu. The Kaski police are also investigating them for cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering. According to the police officials, even though the investigation is going on in the case of fraud of the cooperative's funds and organized crime, if more cases are uncovered, other cases may also be attracted.

Even though it is a crime of the same nature, since the district and organization are different, separate cases will be registered in each district, said Superintendent of Police Ranjitsinh Rathore, Head of Ruppandehi Police. "In every district where a complaint is registered, the process will proceed according to the documents and evidence, even if the same nature of crime is investigated at the same stage, it cannot be merged," he said. According to him, the case cannot be merged as the evidence may vary from place to place. Rathore informed that he is preparing to file a case in Rupandehi District Court against other people who have been given arrest warrants and need to be investigated. 

10,391 savers of Supreme Cooperative were found to have spent 780 million irregularly on various organizations out of 1 billion 70 million. Lamichhane, Joshi and Rai's group took Rs. 142.9 million 36 thousand rupees from Supreme to Gorkha media and spent it illegally. 

 Ila police office, Butwal, had earlier prepared a file and submitted it to the District Public Prosecutor's office to file a case against 28 people for co-operative fraud and organized crime in the District Court based on the complaint of the victims of Supreme Cooperative. But the public prosecutor's office only prosecuted the case on cooperative fraud on May 2. On the basis of the same case, the District Court Rupandehi ordered that the chairman of the cooperative, Omprakash Gurung, should be sent to jail for pre-trial detention and the other 6 people should be released on bail.

Lamichhane was the home minister when the police registered the case in Rupandehi court last May. The victims of cooperatives have been raising questions saying that Lamichhane was not included when 28 people including Dipesh Pun, former secretary of Supreme Cooperative and former president of the organization GB Rai and son of former vice president Nanda Bahadur Pun were made defendants. Now the police has started the investigation by taking a supplementary report against Lamichhane.