Nine people, among them Amar Khadka, a regional chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), were arrested after police raided a gambling operation being run from Khadka's own home in Baglung Bazaar. The District Police Office, Baglung, carried out the raid after receiving a tip-off that card games were being played at the house, and seized Rs 1 lakh 64 thousand (Rs 164,000) in cash from the premises, police said. Khadka, a resident of Baglung Municipality Ward No. 2, was among those detained in the operation, details of which were reported on Tuesday, November 3.

Police act on tip-off in Baglung Bazaar

According to police, the District Police Office, Baglung, received information that card games were under way in the Baglung Bazaar area. Acting on the tip-off, a police team moved in on the house from which the gambling was reported to be operating. Nine people found there were taken under control, and the homeowner, Khadka, was among those arrested.

Baglung Bazaar serves as the district headquarters of Baglung, a hilly district in Gandaki Province, where police have previously conducted similar operations against informal gambling. Reports published by Nepal Press, RatoPati and Pradesh Khabar described the premises as a gambling den allegedly being run from the residence of an RSP leader.

Key facts at a glance

  • Nine people arrested, including RSP regional chairperson Amar Khadka
  • Rs 164,000 in cash seized from the house
  • The raid was carried out by the District Police Office, Baglung, on a tip-off about card games being played in Baglung Bazaar
  • All detainees were taken for medical examination after the arrests

Cash seized and detainees taken for medical checks

Police said Rs 1 lakh 64 thousand rupees in cash was recovered from the house during the search. In gambling raids, cash found at the scene is typically taken into police custody as evidence, and the amount recovered often becomes part of the case that follows against those detained.

All nine detainees were taken for medical examination, police said. Such examinations are a routine procedural step following arrest in Nepal and are generally conducted before detainees are placed in custody and produced for legal action. Gambling outside licensed casinos is an offence under Nepali law, and people caught in such raids typically face charges under the prevailing legal provisions.

The RSP leader at the centre of the raid

Khadka is the regional chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party and a resident of Baglung Municipality Ward No. 2. His detention places a regional-level office bearer of the party at the centre of a police case concerning gambling, an unusual and sensitive development for the organisation.

The RSP rose to prominence after the 2022 elections, positioning itself as an alternative to Nepal's established political forces with an emphasis on good governance and accountability. The arrest of one of its regional chairpersons on gambling-related charges is likely to attract close attention, both within the party and among the public. None of the initial reports indicated that the party had issued a statement on the arrest or on Khadka's role in the case.

The other eight detainees had not been publicly identified in the initial reporting, and it was not immediately clear whether any of them hold positions in political or social organisations.

A familiar pattern of gambling enforcement

Police across Nepal regularly conduct raids on card games and other forms of informal gambling, often acting on tip-offs from local residents. Arrests tend to increase during festival seasons, when card games are widely played in homes and public places despite repeated police warnings that gambling outside licensed casinos remains an offence.

The Baglung operation follows that familiar pattern: information received by the District Police Office, a raid on a residential premise, the arrest of those present and the seizure of cash kept at the scene. What sets the case apart is the location, the home of a sitting regional chairperson of a national political party, and the fact that the host was himself taken into custody.

With the nine detainees taken for medical examination and the seized cash in police custody, the case is expected to move into the legal process, with charges to be framed under the provisions governing gambling offences. Further details, including the identities of the remaining detainees and the specific charges police intend to file, were not immediately available in the initial reports.