MORANG, Nepal – The Morang District Court has issued arrest warrants for 25 individuals, including Anjala Koirala, the wife of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Rishikesh Pokharel, in connection with alleged financial irregularities involving the Uma-Gauri Agricultural Cooperative. The warrants were issued on Tuesday by Judge Arun Kumar Jha’s bench.
Court spokesperson Hem Bahadur Budhathoki confirmed that the warrants have been forwarded to the Rangeli Area Police Office, with authorities given seven days to apprehend the suspects. If they are not captured within this timeframe, authorities will proceed with formal notices to their residences, followed by further legal actions.
On December 13, the District Attorney’s Office filed a case against 26 individuals, including Koirala and the cooperative’s chair, Shambhu Prasad Rauniyar, seeking compensation for the embezzled funds, totaling Rs220 million. These charges stem from an investigation report submitted by the police.
An earlier inquiry into the cooperative, ordered by the Cooperative Registrar’s Office in Koshi on September 9, focused on several key officials, including Rauniyar, Vice-Chair Laxman Sah, Secretary Alam Ansari Miya, Treasurer Shambhu Prasad Singh, and board members Amod Mandal, Roshan Rajbanshi, and Jitman Thakur. The investigation revealed significant financial mismanagement, with the cooperative borrowing over Rs115 million from banks while showing loans and investments worth Rs178.7 million against a total capital of Rs184 million.
The case has sparked political debate, with opposition parties calling for further investigations into PAC chair Pokharel’s potential indirect involvement in the cooperative’s operations. Anjala Koirala had resigned from her position as a board member in early 2022 after the cooperative faced a financial crisis.