On the 5th of Falgun in Butwal, the Chairman of Supreme Savings and Credit Cooperative and the Branch Manager of Bhairahawa have been apprehended by the police on charges of embezzling a staggering one billion rupees from the cooperative's depositors.
Following complaints from depositors, the police have arrested the Chairman, Om Prakash Gurung, and the Branch Manager of Bhairahawa, Durga Chapagai Pandey.
The cooperative had lent 78 crore 50 lakh 76 thousand 665 rupees to various companies, including those chaired and managed by Rai, the cooperative's chairman, and Pandey, the branch manager of Bhairahawa.
"Chairman Gurung was arrested on Friday and Pandey on Saturday, and both have been remanded into custody for five days for further investigation," said DSP Vijayraj Pandit, the chief of the Butwal Police Office. Durga had been working in the central office in Butwal for a long time. Both individuals are being held in custody at the local police office for investigation, DSP Pandit added.
Gitanjali Bahadur Rai (GB), the chairman of the cooperative's management, was the chairman until 2078. Until 2078, Gurung was the vice-chairman.
Around 10,391 depositors from districts like Rupandehi had protested against embezzlement and had submitted a petition to the Provincial Cooperative Registrar's Office.
Chairman GB Rai and Supervisor are currently unreachable. It's been reported that Gorkha Media Network has taken a loan of over 100 million rupees from Supreme Cooperative.