KATHMANDU, March 29 (V7N) –  A Nepal court on Sunday extended by five days the detention of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and his home minister Ramesh Lekhak following their arrest over alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on the 2025 protests that ousted Oli.  

Oli, 74, and Lekhak were arrested in pre-dawn raids on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah was sworn in following the first elections since the September uprising. The crackdown killed at least 76 people, though neither man has been charged, and both deny responsibility.  

“The court has decided to permit five days extension,” Kathmandu District Court information officer Deepak Kumar Shrestha told AFP, adding that Oli should receive necessary medical care. Oli appeared via video-link from a hospital where he was admitted after his arrest due to heart and kidney issues.  

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition for their release on Monday, court spokesman Arjun Prasad Koirala said.  

The arrests followed an inquiry commission’s recommendation that Oli and other officials be prosecuted for failing to stop security forces from firing on demonstrators. The report described their denials of knowledge as “criminal negligence.”  

Ex-energy minister Deepak Khadka was also detained Sunday in a separate money laundering case, police said.  

The September unrest began over a brief social media ban but quickly spread nationwide, with parliament and government offices set ablaze, leading to Oli’s government collapse.  

Oli’s CPN-UML party has denounced the arrests as “revengeful” and called for protests. Police on Sunday used batons to disperse more than 100 supporters near the court in Kathmandu.  

Home Minister Sudan Gurung defended the arrests, saying they were “not revenge against anyone, just the beginning of justice.”  

Prime Minister Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician, swept to power on a youth-driven reform agenda, defeating Oli in his own constituency. His government has unveiled a 100-point reform plan, including investigations into politicians’ assets.  

Nepal ranked 107th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index before the uprising. The World Bank says 82 percent of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment, with GDP per capita at $1,447 in 2024.  

END/WD/RH