Chhabi Lal Joshi brought to Butwal to record statement :: Setopati :: Setopati

Chhabi Lal Joshi, former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Nepal Police, arrested in connection with the cooperative scam, has been brought to Butwal to record his statement.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lakshmi Khanal, Information Officer of Rupandehi District Police Office, said Joshi was brought to Rupandehi on Monday afternoon and handed over to Butwal District Police Office.

DSP Khanal said Joshi’s plea will be accepted from Tuesday.

According to DSP Khanal, Joshi was brought to Rupandehi from Pokhara by air and will again be flown back to Pokhara after his statement is completed.

Police are investigating the transfer of tens of millions of rupees to Gorkha Media Network from Suryadarshan Cooperative in Pokhara and Supreme Cooperative in Butwal.

Joshi, the then board member of Gorkha Media Network, was arrested in Kathmandu on September 22 after a parliamentary special inquiry committee set up to probe the cooperative scam recommended action against him.

Police said Joshi is in custody at Kaski district police station and investigation is underway.

Rabi Lamikhan, then managing director of Galaxy Media Network, was also arrested on Friday on charges of cooperative fraud and organized crime. On Sunday he was remanded in custody for six days.

Earlier, the police found software containing cooperative data from Joshi’s house. He was also questioned by a parliamentary commission investigating co-operative fraud.

Joshi owned 50 percent stake in Gorkha Media, which operated Galaxy Television. He left Gorkha Media some time after the launch of Galaxy TV. His shares were also transferred to Gorkha Media Chairman GB Rai after his departure.

The Nepal Police’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also investigated Joshi for allegedly misappropriating savings from cooperative societies.

According to the report of the parliamentary inquiry committee, in his statement before the committee, Joshi said that he was not aware of the transfer of funds from various cooperatives to Gorkha Media.

A parliamentary inquiry committee report concluded that savings of various cooperatives, including the Suryadarshan cooperative in Pokhara, were transferred to Gorkha Media.