Nepal’s ex-PM arrested over alleged role in protest crackdown

Oli was arrested by police in the capital in the early hours of Saturday.

“They have been arrested for investigation on the protests of Sep8 and 9,” Kathmandu district police spokesman Pawan Kumar Bhattarai said.

AFP reporters later saw him 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.

‘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.

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

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 is not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice. I believe, now the country will take a new direction,” newly appointed Home Minister Sudan Gurung, who was a key figure in the protests, posted on Instagram.

On Saturday, Nepali newsite Onlinekhabar.com said 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.

Oli’s political career stretches nearly six decades, a period that saw a decade-long civil war and Nepal’s 2008 abolition of its monarchy.

As prime minister, Oli became a lightning rod for protester fury. He resigned on Sep 9, 2025, as mobs torched his house, parliament and government offices.

In his resignation letter, Oli said he hoped stepping down would help “move towards a political solution and the resolution of the problems”.