New dwelling minister says arrest of former chief is the ‘starting of justice’.
Printed On 28 Mar 2026
Nepal’s police have arrested former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Residence Affairs Minister Ramesh Lekhak over their alleged involvement in a lethal crackdown on protesters final 12 months.
The detentions on Saturday got here a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cupboard have been sworn in after the primary elections for the reason that 2025 rebellion that toppled Oli’s authorities.
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“They have been arrested this morning and the method will transfer ahead in response to the regulation,” Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari mentioned.
In accordance with The Kathmandu Submit, Oli, 74, was taken into custody from his residence in Bhaktapur, a suburb of the capital, Kathmandu. Photos later confirmed Oli waking right into a hospital, dressed all in white, and surrounded by cops.
Lekhak was additionally detained on Saturday from one other space of Bhaktapur, his private secretary Janak Bhatta advised the Submit.
In a press release on Fb, new Residence Minister Sudan Gurung wrote, “promise is a promise: Nobody is above the regulation”.
“This isn’t vengeance towards anybody, it’s merely the start of justice. I imagine the nation is now headed in a brand new path,” mentioned Gurung.
Oli has but to subject a press release concerning the arrest.
At the least 77 folks have been killed within the anticorruption rebellion on September 8-9, 2025, which started over a short social media ban however tapped into longstanding fury over financial hardship.
At the least 19 younger folks have been killed within the crackdown on the primary day of protests.
‘Infiltrators’
The demonstrations unfold nationwide the next day as parliament and authorities places of work have been set ablaze, ensuing within the authorities’s collapse.
Throughout the caretaker administration, a government-backed fee into the lethal rebellion advisable the prosecution of Oli and different senior officers.
Its report mentioned it was “not established that there was an order to shoot”, however mentioned “no effort was made to cease or management the firing and, as a consequence of their negligent conduct, even minors misplaced their lives”.
Oli has beforehand denied ordering safety forces to open fireplace on protesters. Throughout his failed bid for re-election within the March 5 ballot, he blamed “infiltrators” for the violence.
Prime Minister Shah, 35, a rapper-turned-politician, and his Rastriya Swatantra Get together (RSP) received a landslide victory in parliamentary elections this month on a platform of youth-driven political change.
Shah challenged and defeated Oli within the four-time ex-prime minister’s personal constituency.
At Shah’s first cupboard assembly on Friday, it was determined to implement the suggestions made by the investigative fee.