Following the arrest of Rabbi Lamikhan, there are growing calls to investigate ruling party leaders in scams involving cooperatives.

After Nepal police arrested Rabi Lamichhane, president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and former deputy prime minister, on Friday for his alleged involvement in misuse of cooperative funds, people are now wondering what will happen to the Nepali Congress vice president . Dhanaraj Gurung and CPN-UML MP Rishikesh Pokharel, who are also accused of similar crimes.

Lamichhane’s supporters took to the streets of Kathmandu and Pokhara calling for the arrest of Gurung and Pokharel. They held placards with the names of Lamichhane, Gurung and Pokharel, questioning whether ruling party lawmakers would also be arrested.

Lamichhane is currently in custody at the Kaski district police station after a complaint was lodged against him for allegedly misusing funds of the Suryadarshan Cooperative Society in Pokhara. He is also under investigation on suspicion of organized crime.

However, the Department of Cooperatives said that no complaints had been received regarding the alleged misuse of cooperative funds by Gurung and Pokharel.

“Our department has not received any complaints against cooperatives involving Gurung and Pokharel,” Thol Raj Upadhyaya, a spokesman for the Department of Cooperatives, told the newspaper. “Complaints related to co-ops also come to the provincial or local level, so if there are complaints against them, they can be filed there.”

Koshi Provincial Information Officer of the Ministry of Industry, Agriculture and Cooperatives Leela Ballav Chapagain said no complaint has been registered at the provincial level against Pokharel and his wife Anjala Koirala.

Chapagain also said that this cooperative organization is currently not functioning.

UML leader Pokharel, who heads the public accounts committee of the federal parliament, is also accused of embezzling cooperative funds. His wife Anjala previously worked as a director on the board of the Umagauri Agricultural Cooperative. She is accused of defrauding Rs 140 million from an organization based at Karsia in Ward 4 of Dhanpal Nath Rural Municipality in Morang. The cooperative has now ceased to exist.

Pokharel denies any wrongdoing by himself or his wife.

“My wife only witnessed how some other people from the cooperative took loans, but this fact was distorted to cover up the misdeeds of others,” Pokharel said.

“I will defend myself when the new parliamentary session begins. However, I am also open to an investigation if a government agency wants it.”

Pokharel said that he, as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, had raised concerns about corruption in various sectors and alleged that those under investigation had orchestrated false information against him and his wife. He alleged that the CPN (Maoist Centre) had orchestrated plans against him and his wife.

Pokharel’s statement has some validity as he has been targeted by the CPN (Maoist Centre) amid escalating tensions within the government. In July, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) cut off power to six industrial companies that failed to pay the tariff for using a dedicated feeder and trunk line. For several days, despite a written order from the Electricity Regulatory Commission and verbal instructions from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, NEA chief Kulman Ghising refused to restore power supply to the six companies.

After conflict arose between NEA chief Ghising and Prime Minister Oli, the Public Accounts Committee headed by Pokharel raised the issue of corruption in the NEA. In response, Maoist Center leaders leveled allegations of cooperative fraud, suggesting that Pokharel was trying to divert attention from him.

However, Maoist center chief Hitraj Pandey says Pokharel and his wife’s involvement in the cooperative scam did not appear out of nowhere in the media.

“But we fear that since the present government is determined to take action against those who are not in its favour, it may protect those who are close to it,” Pandey told the Post. “As for the involvement of Pokharel and his wife in the cooperative fraud case, they were also mentioned by the Parliamentary Select Committee of Inquiry, which submitted its report last month.”

However, the report does not directly mention the names of Pokharel and his wife.

“Since there were no complaints against them, our committee did not investigate Pokharel and his wife,” UML MP Sarita Bhusal, who was a member of the parliamentary select committee investigating the cooperative scams, told the Post.

Since no complaint has been filed against UML MP Pokharel and his wife, the Nepal Police’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) has launched an investigation into the alleged scam involving Mytheri Savings and Credit Cooperative, which is linked to Congress vice-president Dhan Raj Gurung and his ex-wife. , Jyoti Gurung.

CIB spokesperson Hobindra Bogati said they are carefully looking into the complaint against Mytheri cooperatives.

“We are investigating a complaint against Mytheri Cooperative in which Dhanraj Gurung and his ex-wife are allegedly involved,” Bogati told the Post.

After cooperative chairman Kumbharaj Gurung filed a complaint with the Department of Cooperatives in August alleging that CEO Jyoti Gurung had embezzled Rs 12.5 million, Congress vice-president Gurung also came under scrutiny. Jyoti Gurung is the ex-wife of Dhanaraj Gurung.

Gurung denies any involvement in the scam, claiming that his ex-wife, with whom he is no longer in a relationship, embezzled the money so he cannot be held accountable.

Despite Gurung’s claim that he separated from his wife in 2019, cooperative chairman Myteri Kumbharaj said he had registered a complaint against the Gurung duo and told law enforcement officials that the MP continued to pay debts in his wife’s name until last year.

Various copies of the vouchers that Dhan Raj Gurung reportedly used to deposit money into the cooperative account have appeared in various media.

After being charged with embezzlement of cooperative funds, Dhan Raj Gurung, speaking in Parliament on September 10, called for a proper investigation to clear his name.

The Parliamentary Select Committee of Inquiry, set up to investigate distressed co-ops, submitted its report last month. The committee also recommended that Gurung and his ex-wife be investigated for misuse of cooperative funds.