KATHMANDU, Nepal: Nepali police arrested a former Kathmandu senior official on Tuesday, a spokesman told AFP, the latest high-profile detention linked to a deadly crackdown on youth-led protests last year.
In the days since a new government took power following elections, former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak have already been arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2025 crackdown that killed at least 76 people.
An inquiry commission into the violence had recommended that Oli and Lekhak, as well as the capital Kathmandu´s former chief district officer Chhabilal Rijal, be investigated under laws addressing deaths caused by negligence.
On Tuesday, Rijal was “arrested to further enquire about the force used during the September 8 and 9 uprising, based on the investigation commission´s report”, police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told AFP.
“His case is similar to that of the former prime minister and the former home minister.”
Rijal, in a statement to the commission, had said that he had given a “verbal order to fire rubber bullets aimed below the knee”, and insisted that he “did not give an order to shoot (live) bullets”.
Later Tuesday, Rijal was granted bail, Kathmandu district police chief Ramesh Thapa said.
“Police handed him over to his relatives after questioning him ... he will have to appear before the authorities when summoned (again),” Thapa told AFP.
Oli and Lekhak both deny responsibility for the violence.
They were arrested in pre-dawn raids on Saturday -- a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah was sworn in, capping months of interim administration following the anti-corruption protests in September.
