KATHMANDU: Nepal's ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli and former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak have been released from custody after questioning for their alleged role in a deadly 2025 crackdown on protesters, police said Thursday (April 9).
Oli and Lekhak were arrested on March 28, a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah took office following the country's first elections since the September uprising brought down Oli's government.
"Both former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and the former home minister have been released today on the condition that they will present themselves to the police when required," Kathmandu Police spokesperson Pawan Kumar Bhattarai told AFP.
Neither man has been formally charged, and both deny responsibility for the violence.
"Both of them have been handed over to their relatives," Bhattarai added.
The arrests came after an inquiry commission recommended prosecuting Oli -- a four-time prime minister -- and other officials for failing to stop security forces from opening fire on demonstrators.
The commission's report said statements given by the two men suggesting they did not know about the violence were part of a bid to shift responsibility and amounted to "criminal negligence".
Oli, 74, was taken to hospital since soon after his arrest for what police described as a procedural check-up, adding that he suffers from heart and kidney problems.
After their arrests, their wives filed habeas corpus petitions at the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of their detentions.
On Monday, Supreme Court spokesperson Arjun Prasad Koirala said that the petitions were dismissed but that the court had ordered authorities to complete the investigation without granting any additional extensions of detention.
Oli's CPN-UML party has described the arrests as "a vengeful act" and called for protests.
The youth-led uprising in September began in Kathmandu and was triggered by a brief social media ban.
It spread countrywide the following day, fuelled by longstanding frustration over corruption and economic hardship.
Protesters set fire to the parliament building and offices and eventually toppled the government. - AFP
