Nepal's former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested over their alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on protesters in September, police said.
The detentions came on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cabinet were sworn in following the first elections since the 2025 uprising that toppled 74-year-old Oli's government.
"They were arrested this morning, and the process will move forward according to the law," Kathmandu Valley police spokesman Om Adhikari said.
An inquiry commission into the violence found that at least 76 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9.
At least 20 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests, which began over a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship.
The unrest spread nationwide the following day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, resulting in the collapse of Oli's government.
Its report said it was "not established that there was an order to shoot", but added that "no effort was made to stop or control the firing and, due to their negligent conduct, even minors lost their lives".
‘Under control’
Oli has denied ordering security forces to open fire on protesters.
He told AFP during his failed bid for re-election in the March 5 poll that he blamed "infiltrators" for the violence.
Oli was arrested by police in the capital in the early hours of Saturday.
"They have been arrested for investigation on the protests of September 8 and 9," Kathmandu district police spokesman Pawan Kumar Bhattarai said.
"He has been admitted at the hospital on doctor's advice," Bhattarai said. "They will oversee his treatment. He has issues with his heart and kidney."
Oli's CPN-UML Marxist party called for supporters to stage a "nationwide protest".
"This is a revengeful act, may the government immediately take this decision back," senior party leader Mahesh Basnet told reporters.
Protests broke out in several parts of the capital with demonstrators burning tyres and demanding Oli's release.
In the capital's Baneshwor area, police fired tear gas as they clashed with the protestors.
"There have been a few incidents, but it is under control," Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said.
