Nepal’s former PM Oli arrested over Gen Z protest crackdown last year
Kathmandu (PTI): Nepal’s Former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli was arrested on Saturday, a day after the newly formed government of Balendra Shah implemented the probe commission report on the Gen Z protest that rocked the nation last year.
Oli, also CPN-UML chair, 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 has also been arrested from his residence at Katunje of Suryabinayak Municipality in Bhaktapur district, police added.
Both Oli and Lekhak have been arrested on charges of their involvement in suppressing the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9 last year, in which 76 people, including around two dozen youths, were killed.
The probe commission formed to investigate the incident surrounding the Gen Z movement has recommended legal action against Oli and Lekhak, among others, under criminal offence.
Nepal's newly formed government, led by Balendra Shah, 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 anybody, just the beginning of justice," he said.
"I believe that now the country will take a new direction," he added.
Both Oli and Lekhak have been 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.
A senior police officer at the Kathmandu District Police Circle told PTI that they will be presented before the Kathmandu District Court on Sunday, as it is a holiday on Saturday. Then the process of investigation in the case will start, he added.
K P Oli was taken to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for medical examination soon after the detention.
This is part of a legal process of investigation, said a police officer.
Meanwhile, CPN-UML has called an emergency meeting of the party's secretariat at its central office in Lalitpur to discuss the situation.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Three militants arrested in Manipur
Imphal (PTI): Three militants have been arrested in Imphal East and West districts of Manipur, while 16 IEDs have been seized in a separate operation near the India-Myanmar border, a police statement said on Sunday.
Three cadres of the banned Kangleipak Communist Party (PWG) outfit have been apprehended from different locations in the twin Imphal districts on Saturday.
An insurgent, identified as Thangjam Yaiphaba Meitei (32), was arrested from his residence at Yumnam Patlou Mamang Leikai in Imphal East district, while Laitonjam Ramakanta (35) was apprehended from Khurai Arambam in the same district, the statement said.
The third militant, Thongam Herojit (39), was arrested from his residence at Tendongyang Mayai Leikai in Imphal West district.
Meanwhile, security forces seized a cache of arms and explosives near Yangoubung village in Moreh police station area in Tengnoupal district on Friday.
An AK-47 rifle with a magazine, two 9mm pistols with magazines, 16 IEDs, four detonators, a safety fuse, and eight batteries, along with Myanmar currency of 16,800 Kyats, were seized during the operation, it said, adding the IEDs were defused on the spot.
