KATHMANDU – Authorities in Nepal have arrested former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday as investigators examine whether he failed in his duty to prevent the deaths of dozens during anti-government demonstrations last September.
The 74-year-old former leader faces potential prosecution after a government investigation committee this week called for charges against him, citing his failure to stop the violent suppression of anti-corruption demonstrations.
The September unrest resulted in 76 fatalities over a two-day period, ultimately forcing Oli to step down from his position.
“They took him from his residence this morning,” said Min Bahadur Shahi, a high-ranking official with Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), in a statement to Reuters.
Police spokesperson Om Adhikari verified that both Oli and his former home minister, Ramesh Lekhak, have been detained.
The political landscape in Nepal shifted dramatically on Friday when Balendra Shah, a former rapper who entered politics, took the oath of office as the new prime minister following his victory in the March 5 parliamentary elections.
