New dwelling minister says arrest of former chief is the ‘starting of justice’.
Revealed On 28 Mar 2026
Nepal’s police have arrested former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-Dwelling 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 had been sworn in after the primary elections because the 2025 rebellion that toppled Oli’s authorities.
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“They had been arrested this morning and the method will transfer ahead in line with the regulation,” Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari mentioned.
In line 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 law enforcement officials.
Lekhak was additionally detained on Saturday from one other space of Bhaktapur, his private secretary Janak Bhatta informed the Submit.
In a press release on Fb, new Dwelling Minister Sudan Gurung wrote, “promise is a promise: Nobody is above the regulation”.
“This isn’t vengeance in opposition to anybody, it’s merely the start of justice. I imagine the nation is now headed in a brand new course,” mentioned Gurung.
Oli has but to concern a press release concerning the arrest.
At the very least 77 individuals had been killed within the anticorruption rebellion on September 8-9, 2025, which started over a quick social media ban however tapped into longstanding fury over financial hardship.
At the very least 19 young people were killed in the crackdown on the primary day of protests.
‘Infiltrators’
The demonstrations unfold nationwide the next day as parliament and authorities places of work had 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, on account of their negligent conduct, even minors misplaced their lives”.
Oli has beforehand denied ordering safety forces to open hearth 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 Celebration (RSP) gained 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.
