Former Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli was detained this Saturday, March 28, for alleged involvement in the deadly repression of protests that removed him from power in September, Nepalese police announced.
KP Sharma Oli was detained along with former Interior Minister Ramesh Lekhak “this morning, and the process will continue in accordance with the law”, a Kathmandu police spokesperson told France-Presse news agency (AFP).
At least 77 people were killed and more than 2,400 were injured during the two days of riots, September 8 and 9, 2025, according to a commission of inquiry that submitted its report on Thursday and recommended the initiation of criminal cases against Oli, the home minister and the police chief at the time.
On September 8, 2025, thousands of young people took to the streets of Kathmandu and other cities in the country to denounce the blocking of social networks and the corruption of elites. At least 19 protesters were shot dead in the capital and dozens of others were injured.
KP Sharma Oli denied ordering the police to open fire. The commission of inquiry was “unable to determine whether there was a formal order to open fire”, but considered that “no effort was made to prevent or control the shooting”.
On September 9, the angry mob destroyed, burned or looted several public buildings, including the parliament. Calm returned in the evening with the army deployment.
“No one is above the law… This is not about revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice”, reacted on the social network Instagram the new Minister of the Interior, Sudan Gurung, a prominent figure in the protests.
The arrest comes a day after Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister.
Shah, a ‘rapper’ who had been mayor of Kathmandu, took office six months after the Generation Z uprising.
“I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the people and the country, promise to respect the Constitution (…) and loyally fulfill my duty as Prime Minister”, he declared, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, when taking the oath before the President of the country, Ram Chandra Poudel.
Shah, 35, was elected to the House of Representatives by defeating 74-year-old KP Sharma Oli, who was ousted from power last September by protesters.
Shah’s centrist Independent National Party (RSP) won an absolute majority of 182 of the 275 seats.
A civil engineer by training, he gained notoriety in the Nepalese underground hip-hop scene by denouncing elite corruption and inequalities. This young man’s popularity soared in 2022, when he was elected, to everyone’s surprise, president of the Kathmandu Chamber.
During the campaign, he presented himself as a spokesperson for the demands of Generation Z, promising to end elite corruption and unemployment, which force many Nepalis to emigrate.
Discreet since the elections, Balendra Shah only broke his silence on Thursday night, when he published a video on social media in which he appealed, through music, for the country’s unity.
“Nepalese united, history is on the march”, he sang in this rap video, accompanied by images from the election campaign.
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