- After Oli’s arrest, his supporters held protest rallies.
- Oli resigned after deadly protests last September.
- Police said Oli and Lekhak would be arraigned in court on Sunday.
KATHMANDU: Former Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested on Saturday as police investigate whether he was negligent in failing to prevent dozens of deaths during the crackdown on Gen Z-led anti-corruption protests last September, officials said.
Oli’s arrest, which his lawyer said was illegal and which sparked protests by his supporters who clashed with police, followed Friday’s swearing-in of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah as prime minister and the recommendation of a commission investigating violence during the protests that he should be prosecuted for negligence.
His former interior minister, Ramesh Lekhak, was also arrested.
76 people were killed last September during a police crackdown, arson and violent unrest during protests, which led to Oli’s resignation.
After his arrest on Saturday, his supporters held protest rallies and clashed with police who tried to stop them from burning tires near the prime minister’s office. Police fired a tear gas shell and used batons to disperse the protests, injuring one person, according to witnesses.
Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) called his arrest illegal and said it was an act of “revenge.” He demanded his immediate release and said more protests were planned for Sunday.
Shankar Pokhrel, a senior party leader, told reporters that protest notes against the arrest would be submitted to the government in all 77 districts across the country on Sunday.
Interior Minister Sudan Gurung rejected the criticism, saying on Facebook: “This is the beginning of justice. The country will now take a new direction.”
Electoral defeat
Oli served as prime minister four times between 2015 and 2025, but has never served a full five-year term. In 2020, he released a new political map that included a small stretch of disputed land controlled by India, giving him a surge in popularity in Nepal.
His popularity did not last, and he was defeated by Shah in his home constituency in that month’s election, his second defeat since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990. Anger over the deaths during the September protests helped Shah’s Rastriya (Swatantra) party win the election by a landslide.
The commission investigating last September’s violence held Oli and Lekhak responsible for taking no action to end hours of police shooting at protesters.
Police spokesperson Om Adhikari said Oli and Lekhak would be arraigned in court on Sunday.
Oli, 74, who has undergone two kidney transplants, was transferred to a hospital from the police station where he was first taken, witnesses said.
His lawyer, Tikaram Bhattarai, told Reuters the arrest was unjustified and would be challenged in the Supreme Court.
“They said (the arrest) was for the purpose of an investigation. It is illegal and inappropriate because there is no risk of him fleeing or avoiding questioning,” he said.
Lekhak and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
