Rajiv Gurung, known by his criminal alias Deepak Manange (), is a Nepali gangster and politician, who was elected to Gandaki Provincial Assembly in the 2017 elections from Manang (B) constituency as an independent candidate. He became the minister of sports in the provincial government in April 2021. Gurung started out as an extortionist in the tourist district of Thamel in the early 1990s. He made an arch-enemy out of fellow gangster Chakre Milan when he led a gang attack against Milan in 2004. He was convicted of assault in 2008 for a separate incident and sentenced to one year. In 2013, he was convicted of attempted murder for the 2004 incident and sentenced to five years. He had yet to complete his sentence when he ran for office in 2017, and was therefore legally ineligible to stand in the election. He was on the run in early 2018 but was arrested by April. The Supreme Court released him on bail in December and he took his oath of office in January 2019. He was arrested again in January 2020 after assaulting a fellow attendee of a public function. Early life and career Born in Thamel, Kathmandu, Manange was raised in Kolkata and Sikkim of India. He completed his high school in Sikkim. He returned to Kathmandu around 1994 and ran a ready-made garments business for two years, selling Nepali garment in Delhi and bringing back leather jackets to sell in Nepal. He then moved to Moreh, India; he returned three years later. In Kathmandu, he started a nightclub called Yak Horn Bar. According to Manange, he came to be noticed by authorities after he beat up the then Crown Prince Dipendra's aide-de-camp, and was eventually forced to close the club. He went on to start multiple businesses in the capital, mainly discos, clubs and restaurants. He later started a construction business. Crime A self-proclaimed don, Manange's involvement with crime in Kathmandu goes back to the early 1990s, when he started a protection racket in the tourist district of Thamel in Kathmandu, to extort hotel and restaurant owners. His first arrest was in 2059 BS (2002-03 CE). He has been arrested at least a dozen times since. 2004 attack on Chakre Milan Manange led a 15-man attack against another Kathmandu gangster Chakre Milan in May 2004. Milan's left hand was nearly severed in the attack that involved swords. The incident