Court extends custody of Former Minister Adhikari by 7 days

KATHMANDU: A court has granted permission to extend the detention of Lila Ballabh Adhikari, a Member of Parliament from State 1 and former Minister for Internal Affairs and Law, for an additional seven days.

The court has allowed the detention of Adhikari and eight others for further investigation.

Judge Dinabandhu Baral of the Kathmandu District Court approved the request to keep them in custody for further inquiry by the police.

Adhikari was arrested on Sunday in Biratnagar and was brought to Kathmandu on the same day.

Two individuals from Okhaldhunga were arrested in connection with the case today, bringing the total number of arrests to nine.

Adhikari had flown to Japan on Ocr 27 to attend an event organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Art Council Tokyo. On Oct 30, along with Adhikari, three individuals — 36-year-old Dawa Sherpa from Khotang, Janak Rai from Khotang, and 22-year-old Kanchan Devkota from Rasuwa — were deported from Tokyo airport, according to the police.

Sherpa, Rai, and Devkota were deported after being accused of traveling to Japan using forged documents. Police claim that each of them paid Rs 1 million for the illegal travel.