Chitwan : The Chitwan District Court has ordered Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair Rabi Lamichhane into judicial custody in connection with the Sahara Multipurpose Cooperative fraud case.

The decision was made on Wednesday after the court could not complete the hearing on Lamichhane’s case. The bench of Judge Daya Ram Dhakal issued the order, directing that he be kept in custody until further proceedings on Thursday, according to court information officer Amrit Bishwokarma.

On Tuesday, the District Government Attorney’s Office filed a case against Lamichhane and 31 others, accusing them of embezzling Rs 320.9 million from Sahara Cooperative. Following this, Lamichhane appeared before the court on Wednesday, where his statement was recorded before the bench of Judge Dhakal.

Among the accused, 12 individuals face charges of organized crime and fraud, while the remaining have been charged solely with fraud.

The prosecution will be represented by seven government lawyers, including District Attorney Rabi Neupane, Assistant District Attorneys Buddha Bahadur Thapa and Amrit Subedi, and lawyers representing the cooperative victims, including senior advocate Rajkumar Shrestha and advocates Ramesh Kafle, Sunita Adhikari, and Shambhu Bartaula.

On the defense side, Lamichhane has appointed a team of six lawyers, led by senior advocate Sushil Pant, along with advocates Dr. Narayan Dutt Kandel, Chudamani Sapkota, Ramchandra Devkota, Subarna Sapkota, and Sanjay Gole.

Lamichhane’s statement was recorded from 11:45 AM to 3:30 PM on Wednesday. The court will proceed with the detention hearing from Thursday.