KATHMANDU: Anjala Koirala, the wife of Public Accounts Committee Chairperson Rishikesh Pokharel, appeared at the Morang District Court on Wednesday after being on the run.
Koirala was listed as absconding by the police in connection with a cooperative fund embezzlement case.
Court officials stated that preparations are underway for the judicial hearing on her remand.
Koirala was implicated in the misappropriation of funds belonging to the Uma Gauri Agricultural Cooperative in Morang, where she had served as a member of the executive committee. Following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the court on December 17, she went into hiding.
The court had issued warrants for 26 individuals, including the cooperative’s chairperson, Shambhu Rauniyar, Anjala Koirala, and Santlal Khawas, Ward Chairperson of Rangeli-2.
Khawas has already been released after posting bail of Rs 500,000. Koirala, however, surrendered at the court immediately after it opened on Wednesday morning.
Koirala, a schoolteacher by profession, teaches at Mahendra Ratri Secondary School in Biratnagar. After the arrest warrant was issued, she had been absent from her teaching duties, notifying the school through written correspondence submitted virtually by her husband, lawmaker Pokharel.
The school’s principal, Jhankanath Parajuli, confirmed receiving a formal leave application on Koirala’s behalf through Pokharel, requesting an extension of her absence.
This high-profile fraud case involves allegations of significant financial misconduct at the cooperative, which has drawn public and legal attention.
Judicial proceedings for Koirala and the other accused are expected to commence shortly.
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