Police on Friday night arrested Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane from his residence in Kathmandu, just hours after the Butwal Bench of the Tulsipur High Court ordered that he be remanded in custody in connection with an ongoing cooperative fraud and organized crime case.
The court order was issued by a bench comprising Justices Ramesh Dhakal and Swikriti Parajuli, reported the state-owned RSS news agency, citing Hari Gopal Gyawali, Deputy Registrar at the Butwal Bench.
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The High Court’s decision overturned an earlier ruling by the Rupandehi District Court, which had granted Lamichhane conditional release on a bail of Rs 10 million.
— Rastriya Swatantra Party - RSP (@party_swatantra) April 4, 2025
Shortly before his arrest, Lamichhane appeared in a video message posted by his party on social media platform X. He asked authorities why he was being treated like the world’s biggest criminal when he had complied with court orders and respected the rule of law.
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Committing that he would cooperate fully with the judicial system and reiterating his innocence, Lamichhane added he would continue his fight for justice.
The court’s ruling and subsequent arrest came just a day before a scheduled RSP event in Chitwan. Lamichhane represents Chitwan-2 in the House of Representatives. In his message, he urged supporters to attend Friday’s program despite his detention.
(With inputs from RSS)
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