Nepal’s former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was remanded in judicial custody for five days by the Kathmandu District Court yesterday. Mr Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on Saturday for their alleged involvement in suppressing the Gen Z movement held in September last year, in which 76 people were killed. The arrests came a day after the newly formed Balendra Shah government decided to implement the report of the probe commission into the Gen Z protests in its first cabinet meeting.

According to the information officer at the district court, Deepak Kumar Shrestha, former Prime Minister Oli virtually attended the district court session due to his deteriorating health conditions. Oli is currently undergoing medical treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, as his health conditions deteriorated when he was taken to the hospital on Saturday for a health check-up following the arrest. He will remain in the hospital during the five-day custody.

Former Home Minister Lekhak was presented before the district court seeking remand for ten days to carry out further investigation into their alleged involvement in the incidents of killings. He was also remanded in custody for five days. In another development, Nepal police yesterday arrested former Energy Minister and Nepali Congress leader Deepak Khadka in connection with a money laundering case.