In response to the arrest of former home minister Rabi Lamichhane, who is also chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), the party members launched protests in Pokhara on Saturday. The RSP activists staged demonstrations at Manavadhikar Chowk in Chipledhunga, demanding Lamichhane’s unconditional release.

Carrying placards and banners, RSP cadres and supporters took to the streets denouncing the government's actions. The demonstrators took out protest rallies that converged into a corner meeting at Manavadhikar Chowk.

The protesters claimed that while the government has attempted to frame Lamichhane but, it has protected the leaders of the ruling parties who were truly“actually involved” in the cooperative scams. They chanted slogans against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Stating that the government is hell-bent toin protecting its tainted leaders, they activists marched with photos of Nepali Congress Vvice-president Dhanraj Gurung and CPN-UML leader Rishikesh Pokharel. RSP cadres demanded investigation against Congress’ Gurung and UML’s Pokharel as complaints have been filed against their wives allegedly for allegedly misusing deposits from different cooperatives.

Addressing the corner meeting, the RSP leaders criticised the government for detaining their party chief on ‘false charges’. They charged said that the government detained Lamichhane to conceal its incompetence and corruption. Claiming that Lamichhane’s arrest is a political vendetta, the RSP leaders said that the government was adamant indifferent to investigateing the misappropriation of around Rs87 billion amounts by various cooperatives and return the savings of the depositors.

RSP Vvice-president DP Aryal said that ‘big parties’ became restless as the RSP emerged as the fourth largest party in the House of Representatives within a short period of time of its establishment.

Another Vvice-president Swarnim Wagle of the party accused the government of abusing authorities to ‘finish off’ an individual and a party. “There are various important works that should be carried out by the government. But the government is hell-bent to frame an individual and finish off a party,” said Wagle, expressing his hope that the judiciary would give justice.

The RSP acting spokesperson Manish Jha, and leaders Toshima Karki and Hari Dhakal, among others, also addressed the corner meeting.

After the corner meeting, the RSP activists attempted to reach the District Police Office in Kaski. However, the security personnel stopped them at Mahendrapul.

The victims of cooperative frauds also planned to take out a rally in Pokhara on Saturday. But they postponed their programme apparently to avert possible confrontation with the RSP activists and supporters.

Similarly, RSP activists and supporters staged protests at Maitighar Mandal in Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon against Lamichhane’s arrest.

Lamichhane was apprehended on Friday by a Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) team of Nepal Police at from the party's central office in Kathmandu to investigate charges of cooperative fraud and organised crime against him. He was subsequently taken by road to the District Police Office in Kaski.

A seven-member parliamentary special committee formed on May 28 to investigate the cooperatives scam recommended legal actions against Lamichhane and three other individuals for their involvement in cooperative frauds. He Lamichhane faces allegations of misappropriating funds from a cooperative while serving as the managing director of the Gorkha Media Network that ran now-defunct Galaxy 4k Television before joining politics in June 2022.