KATMANDU: Nepal’s former energy minister was arrested on Sunday in a money laundering investigation, police said, the latest in a series of high-profile detentions that have included the former prime minister since the new government took power.
The announcement came two days after Prime Minister Balendra Shah was sworn into office, following a landslide victory for his party in the first elections since a deadly 2025 anti-corruption uprising ousted ex-premier KP Sharma Oli.
In pre-dawn raids on Saturday, Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested for their alleged roles in a crackdown on the protests that killed at least 76 people.
Former Energy Minister Deepak Khadka was detained on Sunday, in a case relating to money laundering, Central Investigation Bureau spokesman Shiva Kumar Shrestha said.
Home Affairs Minister Sudan Gurung, a key figure in the protests, said Khadka had been detained ‚Äúin connection with the investigation of the money recovered from his residence during last year’s unrest.
At the time, Khadka’s home was torched, and videos on social media showed protesters throwing cash, found inside, into the air.
The arrests of Oli and Lekhak came after an inquiry commission recommended that the four-time premier and other officials be prosecuted for failing to stop security forces from firing on demonstrators.
The unrest in early September began over a brief social media ban, but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship.
It spread nationwide the following day, as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, leading to the collapse of Oli’s government.
Oli’s CPN-UML Marxist party has called the arrests “a revengeful act” and has called for protests.
Gurung, the home minister, said Oli’s and Lekhak’s arrests were “not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice.”
Before the March 5 polls, Oli, who was seeking re-election, said that he blamed “infiltrators” for the violence.
The inquiry commission’s 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.”
Police say Oli, 74, who has had two kidney transplants, has heart and kidney issues.
A Nepal court on Sunday extended by five days the detention of the former prime minister and his home minister.
“The court has decided to permit a five-day extension,” Katmandu District Court information officer Deepak Kumar Shrestha said.
Shrestha noted that the court has also said the former prime minister should get the medical care he requires.
Oli appeared in court via video link from a hospital on Sunday, where he had been admitted on Saturday following a procedural check-up.
Prime Minister Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician, and his Rastriya Swatantra Party swept to power on a platform of youth-driven political change.
He challenged and defeated Oli in his own constituency.
Shah’s government has unveiled an ambitious 100-point reform agenda, including investigations into the assets of politicians and high-ranking state employees.
Before the uprising, Nepal ranked 107th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
The World Bank says a “staggering” 82 percent of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment, with GDP per capita at just $1,447 in 2024.
