Nepal takes help from Interpol to find out Sandeep Lamichhane
The Nepal cricketer is thought to have based himself in the Caribbean where he had gone to play CPL 2022.
Sandeep Lamichhane finds himself in deep trouble, with the Nepal police seeking the help of Interpol to relocate the escaped cricketer.
The police confirmed the news on Tuesday (September 27) after a Nepal court issued an arrest warrant against the country's rising young cricketer over an alleged rape case.
Accused of rape by a 17-year-old minor in Nepal, Lamichhane is thought to have remained in the Caribbean where he had gone to play the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20.
The fugitive Sandeep Lamichhane, said a Nepal police spokesperson to AFP, got a "diffusion" notice issued against him on Sunday (September 23), with Interpol asking member countries for their co-operation in locating the cricketer's whereabouts.
Nepal Police, Interpol on the look out for Sandeep Lamichhane
"We hope this will help the arrest of Lamichhane for the investigation of a rape complaint case against him," Tek Prasad Rai, the Nepal Police spokesperson told AFP.
In a Facebook post that came to light from Sandeep Lamichhane's official account on Sunday, the cricketer promised to return to Nepal "as soon as possible" to fight the accusations labelled against him.
The player didn't reveal where he is currently based but said he is in "isolation" to take care of his mental and physical condition, with the arrest warrant making him "mentally disturbed" at this point.
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Lamichhane, inarguably his country's first cricketing star, has been hailed as a poster-boy of Nepal's gradual rise in international cricket. The country gained ODI status with the ICC in 2018, having earned full-time T20I status alongside all associates from the beginning of 2019.
The wristspinner got snapped up in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) back in 2018 by the Delhi franchise as Nepal's first IPL pick. He has been a much sought-after cricketer in leagues around the world since then.
The arrest warrant against Sandeep Lamichhane was issued when he was playing for Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL 2022. The cricketer not only took a release from the CPL after that but was also suspended from captaining the national side by Nepal's cricket board.