The Kaski District Court has approved an extension of police custody for former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police and director of Gorkha Media, Chhabi Lal Joshi, for an additional seven days. This extension is related to a cooperative fraud case involving the Pokhara-based Suryadarshan Savings and Cooperative Limited.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohan Thapa verified that the reason for the police's plea for an extension was that they could not record Joshi's statement in the allotted five days of custody, which started on Monday.
Joshi's bronchitis led him to be sick, thus the two and a half hours that the District Government Attorney's Office spent recording his statement on Tuesday were cut short. It was anticipated that the recording would continue on Friday, but his health problems made it impossible.
The Home Ministry issued an order that prompted the implementation of the recommendations made by a Parliamentary Special Committee that looked into financial mismanagement and corruption in cooperative groups, which is what prompted this case. Joshi had been under police monitoring in relation to the cooperative scam, as had other officials involved in the cooperative.
Joshi was flown to Pokhara for additional investigation after being taken into custody on the day the instruction was issued.
