The Kaski District Court has granted police the permission to detain Rabi Lamichhane in custody for seven more days.
A single bench of Justice Chandrakant Paudel approved the extension of the remand by a week, reports RSS, the state-owned news agency.
Earlier this week on Sunday, October 20, the court had allowed police to keep Lamichhane, chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party, in custody for six days, beginning last Friday, October 18, when he was arrested on charges of cooperative fraud and organised crime.
Read: Recovery of Funds from Cooperatives Unlikely as their Liabilities Exceed Assets
A team from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police had apprehended Lamichhane from his party office in Kathmandu, shortly after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
The arrest comes a month after the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the misappropriation of public savings in cooperatives recommended legal action against him for his alleged involvement in the misuse of cooperative funds.
Read: Lamichhane to be Remanded in Custody for Six Days
According to the committee, while Gitendrababu (GB) Rai, chairman of a cooperative and media outlet, was seen as the mastermind behind transferring cooperative funds to Gorkha Media, Lamichhane also bears responsibility due to his role as managing director of the media company.
Lamichhane was immediately taken to Kaski as the district police office has been investigating the case involving him.
Security measures have been tightened in Pokhara as supporters of RSP continue to protest against his detention. The district has also seen demonstrations from the victims of cooperative frauds.
Claiming to be innocent, Lamichhane has said he would cooperate with the judicial process.
According to RSS, former deputy inspector general Chabilal Joshi, who was arrested in the same case, has also had his detention extended for an additional seven days.
(With inputs from RSS)
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