Nepal’s ex-PM K.P. Sharma Oli arrested over alleged role in crackdown on protesters

Nepal’s former prime minister K.P.

Sharma Oli earlier in March.

Photo: Reuters Nepal’s former prime minister K.P.

Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday morning over their alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters in September, police said.

The detentions come a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cabinet were sworn in after the first election since the 2025 uprising that toppled 74-year-old Oli’s government. “They were arrested this morning and the process will move forward according to the law,” said Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari.

At least 77 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9, which began over a brief social media ban, but tapped into long-standing fury over economic hardship.

At least 19 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests.

The unrest spread nationwide the following day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, resulting in the government’s collapse.

During the caretaker administration, a government-backed commission into the deadly uprising recommended the prosecution of Oli and other officials.

The report said it was “not established that there was an order to shoot”, but that “no effort was made to stop or control the firing and, due to their negligent conduct, even minors lost their lives”.

Oli has previously denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters.

He said during his failed bid for re-election in the March 5 poll that he blamed “infiltrators” for the violence.

Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician, and his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections this month on a platform of youth-driven political change.

Shah challenged and defeated Marxist leader Oli, in the four-time former prime minister’s own constituency.

Balendra Shah (centre) flashes a victory sign after collecting a certificate in Damak, Nepal, following his win in parliamentary elections earlier this month.

Photo: AFP Shah’s first cabinet meeting on Friday evening decided to implement the recommendations made by the probe commission.

The commission’s report said victims in 48 out of 63 completed autopsies died of bullet wounds, and that the majority were struck in their chest or head.

More than 200 people were questioned, including Oli, and a 900-page report with an additional 8,000 pages of evidence was submitted. “No one is above the law … This

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