Bosses of Paridrishya Cooperative go AWOL

KATHMANDU, NOV 05 -

Enraged depositors of Paridrishya Cooperative located at Kalimati brought the mother of its chairman Ram Bahadur Basnet in front of the media to force her to reveal his whereabouts after he and other board members fled with millions of rupees in deposits.

Speaking at the Reporter’s Club, Basnet’s mother Lila Kumari Basnet said she had no idea where he was, and complained that the depositors had misbehaved with her. On Saturday, they had picketed her house at Thankot which was guarded by police. She was rushed to the press meet under police protection. The depositors have accused Basnet and other board members of running away with Rs 500 million of their money.

In April, police arrested the bosses of Paridrishya Cooperative following complaints by the account holders that their deposits were not returned even after they had matured. The officials were released after Basnet’s daughter Tulasa Basnet and brother-in-law Khem Raj Neupane promised to return the money. They have been in hiding since then. Other officials including vice-chairman Basuraj Dahal and Surendra Man Pradhan are also out of touch, according to the depositors.

One of the victims is Rajbhai Shrestha from Chitlang, Makwanpur who lost Rs 4 million which he had saved to buy land at Satungal, Kathmandu. “I had deposited the money for just 15 days last year after selling my land at Sitapaila and Gurjudhara to buy a plot at Satungal,” said Shrestha.

“The cooperative dillydallied returning my money saying that they had to get it from the bank.” He could not purchase the land even after paying Rs 1.2 million up front. Likewise, Paridrishya Cooperative owes Rs 222,000 to Pashupati Shrestha of Chapagaun, Lalitpur and Rs 300,000 to Shyam Sundar Ghimire of Dhungekharka, Kavre.

Established four years ago, Paridrishya Cooperative has around 1,000 members. An employee Anju Maharjan said the promoters had bad intentions from the start as they refused to issue loans to potential borrowers brought by marketing representatives. Absconding chairman Basnet operates another cooperative named Palung Savings and Credit Cooperative in Palung, Makwanpur.

Source: The Kathmandu Post