Nepal erupts: CPN-UML cadres clash with police after KP Sharma Oli’s arrest in Kathmandu

Nepal’s former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested on 28 March 2026 by the Nepal Police at his residence in Gundu, Bhaktapur, in connection with a culpable homicide case linked to the violent suppression of the Generation Z anti-corruption protests on 8 and 9 September 2025. His former Home Minister, Ramesh Lekhak of the Nepali Congress party, was detained earlier the same morning from his residence in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur. The dual arrests occurred one day after new Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his 15-member cabinet were sworn in at the Presidential Palace in Kathmandu, marking one of the most consequential transitions of political authority in Nepal’s post-republican history.

The detentions followed the first cabinet meeting of the Shah-led government, held on 27 March 2026, which resolved to immediately implement the findings of the Gauri Bahadur Karki Commission, a three-member high-level inquiry panel established by Nepal’s Council of Ministers on 21 September 2025 under the Commission of Inquiry Act. The cabinet’s resolution triggered a formal complaint by the Home Ministry and the issuance of arrest warrants. Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari confirmed the detentions, stating that both men had been arrested in accordance with the commission’s recommendations and that legal procedures would proceed according to the law. Adhikari said both Oli and Lekhak would be produced before the court on Sunday, which is a working day in Nepal.

Oli, who is 74 years old and has undergone two kidney transplants, was taken from his residence by several trucks of officers in riot gear and transferred initially to the Kathmandu District Police Circle at Bhadrakali. He was subsequently moved to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, after experiencing health complications following his detention. Oli’s lawyer, Tikaram Bhattarai, told Reuters that the arrest was unwarranted, arguing there was no risk of his client fleeing or avoiding questioning. Lekhak and his legal representatives could not be immediately reached for comment at the time of the arrests.

What were the September 2025 Generation Z protests in Nepal and why did they result in dozens of deaths?

The protests of 8 and 9 September 2025 emerged from a government-imposed ban on 26 social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp, announced on 4 September 2025 by the then Oli-led administration. Although the ban was lifted after four days, demonstrations had already expanded well beyond a response to censorship. The movement drew on longstanding public frustration over corruption, economic hardship, youth unemployment, and the perceived impunity of Nepal’s political establishment. Generation Z students and young activists took to the streets in Kathmandu and across Nepal’s major cities in what became the most significant popular uprising in the country’s democratic history.

Security forces responded with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and live ammunition. At least 19 protesters were killed on the first day of demonstrations alone. By the close of 9 September 2025, at least 76 people had been killed, more than 2,500 had been injured, and government and private property valued at approximately 85 billion Nepali rupees had been destroyed. Crowds burned down the office buildings of the Prime Minister and the President, ransacked police stations, and set fire to the homes of senior politicians, who were reported to have fled aboard army helicopters. The scale of state violence and the breakdown of government authority represented a defining rupture in Nepal’s political landscape.

Prime Minister Oli resigned on 9 September 2025, becoming the first sitting prime minister in recent Nepali history to be forced from office by mass protest. Sushila Karki, a retired Supreme Court judge and former Chief Justice, was appointed interim Prime Minister on 12 September 2025, becoming Nepal’s first female head of government. The Karki caretaker administration oversaw the stabilisation of the country and organized the 5 March 2026 general election, the first national polls since the September 2025 uprising.

How did the Gauri Bahadur Karki Commission establish negligence and what criminal charges did it recommend against KP Sharma Oli and Ramesh Lekhak?

The Gauri Bahadur Karki Commission was chaired by former Special Court judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, with former Additional Inspector General of Police Bigyanraj Sharma and lawyer Bishweshwar Prasad Bhandari as members. Its 907-page report was submitted to then-interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki on 8 March 2026. The commission concluded that the government had failed to anticipate the scale of youth discontent and that intelligence lapses, delayed cabinet-level crisis response, and excessive reliance on force violated human rights standards. The report found that the deaths of 8 September 2025 resulted from avoidable excessive force and poor leadership rather than from protester aggression alone.

While the commission did not establish that a direct order to shoot had been issued, it stated explicitly that no effort was made to stop or control the firing and that due to the negligent conduct of senior officials, even minors lost their lives. The panel held Oli responsible for failing to take any action to halt hours of firing that killed at least 19 protesters on the first day of demonstrations. The commission recommended that Oli, Lekhak, and the then-Inspector General of Police Chandra Kuber Khapung be charged under Sections 181 and 182 of Nepal’s National Penal Code for criminal negligence, with potential prison sentences ranging from three to ten years. Nepal Police Additional Inspector General and current Inspector General Dan Bahadur Karki and Armed Police Force official Narayan Dutta Poudel were both named for formal reprimands that legal experts noted could affect their promotion prospects. The commission also recommended the formation of a separate study committee to examine the broader role of security agencies during the protests. No direct legal action against security force personnel has been taken at this stage.

Who is Balendra Shah and what does his election as Nepal’s prime minister mean for the country’s governance and accountability frameworks?

Balendra Shah, widely known as Balen Shah, is a rapper and civil engineer who served as Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City before entering national politics. He rose to public prominence during the September 2025 protests and their aftermath. His written statement to the Gauri Bahadur Karki Commission indicated that while he supported the anti-corruption rally of 8 September 2025, he was not directly involved in the protests and subsequently assisted army and presidential authorities in calming crowds. The commission did not recommend any action against Shah and referenced his role positively in some sections regarding local coordination.

Shah led the Rastriya Swatantra Party to a commanding majority in the 5 March 2026 parliamentary elections, achieving a scale of electoral success described as historically unprecedented in Nepal, where coalition governments and fragile alliances have characterised post-republican governance. He was sworn in on 27 March 2026, and his cabinet achieved 33 percent female representation for the first time in Nepal’s federal history, fulfilling a constitutional provision that previous federal administrations had not met. Shah also won his parliamentary seat by defeating Oli in the former prime minister’s own constituency. His government’s first cabinet meeting set the arrest process in motion by endorsing the Karki Commission’s recommendations and ordering their immediate implementation.

Nepal’s newly appointed Home Minister Sudan Gurung, who is himself publicly associated with the protest movement, announced the arrests on social media. Gurung stated that no one is above the law and that the action represented the beginning of justice rather than an act of revenge. He also affirmed that a promise made to the public had been kept.

Why has the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist condemned the arrests and what actions has the party announced in response?

The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist, of which Oli serves as party chairman, immediately condemned the arrests as politically motivated and launched a coordinated street and legal opposition campaign. The party’s Secretariat convened an emergency meeting at its central office in Chyasal, Lalitpur, chaired by Senior Vice-Chairperson Ram Bahadur Thapa. General Secretary Shankar Pokharel announced that the party would pursue legal, political, and public demonstrations against the detentions. District committees across the country were directed to organise demonstrations on Saturday and to submit memorandums to Chief District Officers on Sunday.

Party leaders publicly characterised the arrests as politically retaliatory and accused the Shah administration of weaponising the Karki Commission’s report for the purposes of political consolidation. Former Foreign Minister and party leader Pradeep Gyawali described the action as political revenge taken against the party chairman. In its formal statement, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist called for the establishment of a fresh high-level investigation commission led by a sitting Supreme Court judge to conduct an impartial judicial inquiry, arguing that the Karki Commission’s report was itself incomplete and that its implementation without adequate legal process, sufficient study, and institutional consultation was inconsistent with Nepal’s constitution and established democratic practice.

On the streets of Kathmandu, party cadres and supporters gathered at Maitighar Mandala from 3 pm and attempted to advance toward restricted areas, triggering clashes with police along the Babarmahal-Maitighar-Bijulibazar stretch. Protesters burned tyres, vandalised road dividers, and brought vehicular traffic to a standstill. Clashes were also reported at Bhrikutimandap, where members of the All Nepal National Free Students Union, the party’s student organisation, held a separate rally. Four individuals were arrested by police during the street demonstrations. Party-affiliated demonstrators publicly burned copies of the Karki Commission report. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist stated it would engage in dialogue and coordination with political parties and civil society groups supportive of democracy and the rule of law.

Nepal’s detention of a former prime minister in connection with deaths during a mass protest is without precedent in the country’s modern democratic history and signals a significant shift in how electoral mandates are being converted into accountability outcomes in Kathmandu. The question of whether the legal proceedings against Oli and Lekhak will be seen as legitimate judicial process or as politically motivated transitional justice remains deeply contested and will shape Nepal’s political stability in the months ahead.

Key takeaways on what Nepal’s arrest of former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli means for the country’s institutions, legal accountability frameworks, and regional political stability

• Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on 28 March 2026 in connection with a culpable homicide case linked to the deaths of at least 76 people during the Generation Z anti-corruption protests in Nepal in September 2025.
• The arrests were carried out on the basis of recommendations by the Gauri Bahadur Karki Commission and were authorised at the first cabinet meeting of Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s government, which resolved to implement the commission’s findings immediately.
• The Karki Commission’s report did not establish that a direct order to shoot was given but found that no effort was made to stop or control the firing and that negligent conduct by senior officials resulted in the deaths of protesters, including minors.
• The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist condemned the arrests as politically motivated, called an emergency Secretariat meeting, and announced coordinated nationwide demonstrations and legal opposition to the detentions.
• The arrests mark the first time in recent Nepali history that a former prime minister has been detained in connection with deaths during a mass protest, representing a significant precedent for executive accountability in Nepal’s democratic system.