Nepal's former prime minister KP Sharma Oli (C) is escorted by police as he is brought to the hospital following his arrest in Kathmandu on March 28, 2026. (Photo by Prakash Mathema / AFP)
Kathmandu, Nepal: Nepal's former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday over their alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters in September, police said.
The detentions came a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cabinet were sworn in following the first elections 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," Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari told AFP.
An inquiry commission into the violence found that at least 76 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9.
At least 20 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests, which began over a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship.
The unrest spread nationwide the following day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, resulting in the collapse of Oli's government.
The government-backed inquiry commission recommended during a caretaker administration that Oli and other officials be prosecuted.
Its report said it was "not established that there was an order to shoot", but added that "no effort was made to stop or control the firing and, due to their negligent conduct, even minors lost their lives".
Oli has denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters.
He told AFP during his failed bid for re-election in the March 5 poll that he blamed "infiltrators" for the violence.
Oli was arrested by police in the capital in the early hours of Saturday.
Supporters protest against the arrest of Nepali former prime minister KP Sharma Oli in Kathmandu on March 28, 2026. (Photo by Prakash Mathema / AFP)
"They have been arrested for investigation on the protests of September 8 and 9," Kathmandu district police spokesman Pawan Kumar Bhattarai said.
AFP reporters later saw Oli walk into hospital, dressed in white and surrounded by a heavy police guard.
"He has been admitted at the hospital on doctor's advice," Bhattarai said. "They will oversee his treatment. He has issues with his heart and kidney."
Oli's CPN-UML Marxist party called for supporters to stage a "nationwide protest".
"This is a revengeful act, may the government immediately take this decision back," senior party leader Mahesh Basnet told reporters.
Protests broke out in several parts of the capital with demonstrators burning tyres and demanding Oli's release.
In the capital's Baneshwor area, police fired tear gas as they clashed with the protestors.
"There have been a few incidences, but it is under control," Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said.
'Beginning of justice'
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.
He challenged and defeated Marxist leader Oli in the four-time ex-prime minister's own constituency.
Shah's first cabinet meeting on Friday decided to implement the recommendations made by the investigation commission.
The commission's report said victims in 48 out of 63 completed autopsies died of bullet wounds, and that most were struck in the 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 is not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice. I believe, now the country will take a new direction," new Home Minister Sudan Gurung, a key figure in the protests, posted on Instagram.
Nepali news site Onlinekhabar.com said on Saturday Oli had denied any role in the violence.
"This arrest is vindictive, I will fight a legal battle for it, prepare yourselves," Oli told his lawyers, the site reported.
But among those whose relatives were killed or wounded in the September violence, there was support for the judicial process.
"Whoever was involved during the September 8 and 9 killings should be punished," Bhavani Timilsina, whose son is still recovering from bullet wounds on his leg, told AFP.
"I was very happy this morning when I heard the news... the new home minister has done what was needed to be done."
