KATHMANDU: Police arrested former prime minister KP Sharma Oli on Saturday for his alleged role in the violent police action during last September’s anti-corruption protests that left 76 people dead.
The arrest came just one day after rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah took oath as the new prime minister. A special investigation panel had recommended prosecuting Oli and his former home minister Ramesh Lekhak for failing to control the police firing on demonstrators.
Both Oli and Lekhak were taken into custody on Saturday.
The protests, mostly led by young people demanding an end to corruption, turned deadly when police opened fire. The violence and arson that followed forced Oli to step down from power.
As soon as news of the arrest spread, Oli’s supporters rushed onto the streets. They burned tyres near the prime minister’s office and clashed with police. Officers used tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd, injuring at least one person.
Oli’s party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), strongly condemned the arrest. They called it illegal and an act of political revenge. The party demanded his immediate release and announced fresh protests for Sunday. Senior leader Shankar Pokhrel said protest notes would be submitted to government offices in all 77 districts of the country.
Oli, 74, who has undergone two kidney transplants, was shifted from police custody to a hospital on Saturday evening. However, Tikaram Bhattarai said the arrest was totally unjustified.
Overall, Oli served four terms as prime minister between 2015 and 2025 but never completed a full five-year term. He lost his seat in the recent election to Balendra Shah — his second defeat since Nepal restored multi-party democracy in 1990.
