Oli breaks silence, denies giving any shooting orders during 'Gen Z' protests in Nepal
Kathmandu (PTI): Nepal's deposed prime minister K P Sharma Oli on Friday denied that he had given any shooting orders during the 'Gen Z' demonstrations, saying bullets were fired at protesters from automatic guns that the police did not possess and called for a probe into the matter.
In his first public statement since his ouster on September 9, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) chairman blamed the infiltrators for the violence during the "peaceful protest" by Gen-Z.
“The government didn’t order to shoot at the demonstrators,” 73-year-old Oli said in a message issued on the occasion of Constitution Day.
“The bullets were fired at the protesters from automatic guns, which were not possessed by the police personnel, and this must be investigated,” Oli said.
Seventy-four people, including 3 policemen, were among the dead during the youth-led violent protests on September 8 and 9 against corruption and a ban on social media.
Claiming that there was "infiltration" in the "peaceful protests", he said, "The infiltrating conspirators turned the agitation violent, and this way our youths were killed.”
Expressing grief over the loss of lives, Oli demanded an inquiry into the incident.
"The Singhdurbar Secretariat and Supreme Court were set on fire, Nepal's map was burnt, and many important government buildings were set on fire after I resigned from the post," he said.
"I don’t want to elaborate on the conspiracies behind these incidents; time will speak for itself,” he added.
He also recalled the challenges the country had faced while promulgating the Constitution.
"The Constitution was promulgated in the midst of a border blockade and challenges against national sovereignty,” said Oli, who did not appear at the Constitution Day event organised at the UML's central party office.
"All generations of Nepalis must unite — to confront the assault on our sovereignty and to defend our Constitution,” he added.
Oli had flown to the army barracks, probably in Shivapuri forest area in the North of Kathmandu, as soon as the Gen Z protest turned violent, even as he quit the post on September 9.
After spending nine days under the Nepal Army's security, Oli recently moved to a private place. However, the place where he is staying now has not been made public. According to media reports, Oli has moved to a private house in the Gundu area of Bhaktapur district, 15 km east of Kathmandu.
The Gen-Z protesters had burnt his house at Balkot in Bhaktapur to ashes during the second day of the protest. Oli was at the official residence of the Nepal PM when the protesters partially burnt the Prime Minister’s Office at Balkot.
However, Oli safely escaped with the help of the Nepal Army, who sent a helicopter to rescue him.
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Syndicate extorting money from Rajasthan bus conductors for decades dismantled, 8 held
Kota(Rajasthan) (PTI): Police busted a syndicate that allegedly extorted money from Rajasthan Roadways bus conductors by forcing them to charge passengers without issuing tickets, even as they offered the conductors protection from vigilance checks, officials said.
Jhalawar Police carried out simultaneous raids across 12 districts and arrested eight people, including the gang leader, Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor in Jhalawar.
With this, the decades-long operations of the gang, which has caused substantial loss to the state transport corporation, has been dismantled, they said.
As part of 'Operation Clean Ride', police also captured the exchange of money on video in a sting operation, a senior officer said on Saturday.
Since the gang would pass on messages regarding vigilance teams to the bus conductors through STD phone booths in the early days of its operation, it came be known as the 'STD Gang'.
The gang threatened roadways staff with false complaints of corruption for not issuing tickets to passengers and job termination if the payments were not made.
The gang allegedly facilitated "large-scale ticketless travel" and shared "confidential vigilance information", resulting in heavy revenue loss to the state, police said.
Police claimed the gang's activities caused revenue losses of up to 40 per cent at certain locations.
Speaking in detail on the matter on Saturday, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said following a confidential complaint received on December 24, 2025, police began a discreet investigation.
Technical evidence, call detail records and UPI transaction details were collected by the probe team. A sting operation was conducted that recorded members of the accepting illegal payments from conductors at different bus stands.
Based on the findings, a coordinated raid plan was executed, and all arrests were made simultaneously so that they would have no time to flee or destroy evidence.
Police arrested eight accused, including gang leader Narendra Singh Rajawat. Rs 11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones, a spy camera pen, roadways identity cards, STD diaries, bus security slips, passbooks, cheque books and several other documents were seized from them.
Additional detentions were made with the help of local police in Ajmer, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Banswara, Kota and Agar in Madhya Pradesh for further investigation, the SP said.
Police said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per conductor per trip and Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.
Conductors who refused to pay were allegedly targeted through vigilance complaints and harassment, the officer said.
The probe also revealed that multiple criminal cases had earlier been registered against members of the gang in different police stations for offences including obstruction of public servants, assault, criminal intimidation and violations under the IPC and SC/ST Act. Several of these cases are currently pending trial in court.
The SP said police are coordinating with Rajasthan Roadways management for further investigation and to set up preventive measures for the future.
'Operation Clean Ride' involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the syndicate and assess the total revenue loss caused, police said.
