Former Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli was arrested on Saturday in connection with the Gen Z protests that led to the collapse of his government last September. Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was also taken into custody.
The arrests came a day after rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as Prime Minister on Friday following his victory in the March 5 parliamentary elections.
Reports say the detentions followed a panel’s recommendation to prosecute Oli for allegedly failing to prevent the crackdown on the protests, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.
Min Bahadur Shahi, a senior leader of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), told Reuters that Oli was taken into custody from his residence on Saturday morning.
“A promise is a promise,” Prime Minister Shah wrote on X after Oli’s arrest. He said, “We have taken former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and outgoing Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak under control. This is not revenge against anyone; it is just the beginning of justice. I believe that now the country will take a new direction.”
Oli’s coalition government collapsed after youth-led Gen Z protests over corruption, nepotism and a social media ban. The demonstrations turned violent on September 8 and 9, leaving more than 70 people dead.
After Oli’s ouster, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki served as interim prime minister on the recommendation of the Gen Z movement.
In the March 5 general elections, Balendra “Balen” Shah defeated Oli—a four-time prime minister—by a wide margin in Jhapa-5, a long-standing CPN-UML stronghold.
