Sandeep Lamichhane Granted Bail: Nepal cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane has been granted bail by a high court in Nepal after spending more than three months in jail after he was arrested on rape charges.
Sandeep Lamichhane Granted Bail
According to court officials, a joint bench of Patan High Court judges Dhruvaraj Nanda and Ramesh Dhakal decided to release Lamichhane on INR 2 million bail, overturning the decision of the Kathmandu district court.
“He has been ordered to be released in bail amounting to Rs 2 million. He will be released tomorrow. There are certain terms for his foreign travels,” Lamichhane’s advocate, Saroj Ghimire told ANI.
A police complaint was filed by a 17-year-old girl, on 6 September 2022, accusing Lamichhane of raping her on the night of 21 August in a hotel room in Kathmandu.
With the registration of the case against the former captain of the Nepali national team, all his assets and properties were frozen. The police also presented CCTV footage from the hotel where the incident took place, statements, and hospital reports as evidence in the case filed against Lamichhane.
Police confirmed that the CCTV footage of the hotel revealed Lamichhane was staying with the girl.
Lamichhane wrote on Facebook that he would “fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence”.
He formerly captained the Nepal Under-19 side first in 2016 during the Asia Cup and then in 2017 for the Asian Cricket Council World Cup Qualifier. He has also played in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Last year, leg spinner Lamichhane was appointed as the captain of the Nepal cricket team. Lamichhane’s most recent international appearance was in a T20I against Kenya in August of 2022.
Sandeep Lamichhane so far played 30 ODIs and 44 T20Is and bagged 69 and 85 wickets respectively. He is the world’s 2nd-fastest bowler to 50 ODI wickets and the third-fastest to 50 T20I wickets.
