KP Sharma Oli: Nepal’s former prime minister arrested over alleged role in deadly protest crackdown | Nepal
Nepal’s former prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, was detained on Saturday as police investigated whether he was negligent in preventing dozens of deaths during Gen Z protests last September.
This week, a Nepal panel investigating violence during anti-corruption protests recommended that Oli, 74, be prosecuted for failing to prevent a crackdown on the protests.
At least 77 people were killed in an anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9 that began over a brief social media ban but turned into long-running anger over economic hardship. At least 19 young people were killed in the crackdown on the first day of the protests.
The unrest led to Oli’s resignation.
Min Bahadur Shahi, a senior leader of Oli’s Nepal Communist Party (United Marxist Leninist), said: “They took him from his home this morning.”
Police spokesman Om Adhikari confirmed that Oli and home minister Ramesh Lekhak were detained.
Rapper politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on Friday after winning the March 5 parliamentary elections.
The detentions came a day after Shah and his cabinet were sworn in following the first elections since the 2025 uprising that toppled Oli’s government.
The next day, unrest spread across the country as parliament and government offices were set on fire, resulting in the collapse of the government.
A Nepali government-sponsored report into the deadly riot recommended that the officials be prosecuted.
While it was stated in the report that “it was not determined that there was an order to shoot”, it was claimed that “no effort was made to stop or control the shooting, and even young children lost their lives due to their negligent behavior”.
Newly appointed interior minister Sudan Gurung, a key figure in the protests, posted on Instagram: “No one is above the law… This is not taking revenge on anyone, it’s just the beginning of justice. I believe the country will now move in a new direction.”
