Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A day after the newly-formed government, led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah, took oath of office in Kathmandu, the Nepal police arrested former Communist PM KP Sharma Oli over his crackdown on the masses, who joined the Generation Z-inspired public turmoil in 2025, the media reported on Saturday.
Oli has been arrested on charges of suppressing the Gen. Z movement, in which 76 people, including around two dozen youths, were killed.
He was arrested after the Shah government implemented the probe commission report on the Gen Z protest that rocked the Himalayan nation last year.
Oli, who heads the CPN-UML, was arrested at the Gundu area of Bhaktapur district, 12 km east of Kathmandu, early Saturday morning, according to the police.
Former Home Minister and Nepali Congress leader Ramesh Lekhak was also arrested from his residence at Katunje of Suryabinayak Municipality in Bhaktapur district, police added.
Both Oli and Lekhak have been arrested on charges of suppressing the Gen Z-led mass uprising of September 8 and 9, 2025, in which 76 people, including around two dozen youths, were killed.
The probe commission formed to investigate the incident surrounding the mass movement against corruption and other issues has recommended strict legal action against Oli and Lekhak, among others, under criminal offence.
The Shah government, in its first cabinet meeting on Friday, decided to immediately implement the recommendations made by the probe commission.
“Nobody is above the law,” wrote Home Minister Sudhan Gurung in a social media post after the arrest.
“We have taken under control former Prime Minister KP Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak. This is not a revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice,” he said.
“I believe that now the country will take a new direction,” he added.
Both Oli and Lekhak were taken into detention at the Kathmandu District Police Circle in Bhadrakali, said the police.
The probe commission has recommended a jail sentence of up to three to ten years for the offence.
They will be produced before the Kathmandu District Court on Sunday, as it is a holiday on Saturday. Then investigation will start.
Soon after detention, Oli was taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for medical examination.
Meanwhile, CPN-UML has called an emergency meeting of the party’s secretariat at its central office in Lalitpur to discuss the situation.
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