Oli Held: Former Nepal Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, 74,  on Saturday was arrested for his alleged role in dozens of deaths during Gen Z protests last September. Police are likely to question him about whether four-time PM was negligent in failing to prevent deaths during anti-corruption protests led by youngsters. Police spokesman Om Adhikari confirmed the detainment of Oli and his home minister, Ramesh Lekhak.

Oli's arrest comes hours after rapper-turned politician Balendra Shah was sworn as the youngest prime minister days after winning the March 5 parliamentary elections.

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Oli was taken into custody from his residence in Gundu, Bhaktapur, by Nepal Police. The former Prime Minister has been kept in the District Police Range office in Kathmandu. According to the Kathmandu Post, "Oli has been arrested in connection with a culpable homicide-related case linked to the alleged suppression of the September Gen Z protests."

Arrest After Probe Panel's Recommendation 

Earlier this week, a Nepali panel which probed violence during the anti-corruption protests against the Oli government recommended that a senior communist leader be prosecuted for failing to prevent the crackdown on the protests. A total of 76 people were killed in two days of unrest, which led to Oli's resignation.

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"They took him from his residence this morning," Min Bahadur Shahi, a senior leader of Oli's Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), said. 

Shah Defeats Oli By Huge Margin In Nepal polls

A few days ago, RSP leader Shah defeated Oli by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency, the traditional stronghold of the CPN-UML. The Rashtriya Swatantrata Party (RSP) leader and former Kathmandu Mayor, popularly known only as Balen, was projected as the PM face of his party.

Balen, 35, secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734 in the constituency where the former prime minister had remained undefeated for years.

(With Agencies inputs)