Ex-Kathmandu CDO arrested over Gen Z protest crackdown

Former chief district officer (CDO) of Kathmandu, Chhabi Rijal, was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged role in the crackdown of the Gen Z movement in September last year.

Rijal, who was named in the list of high officials responsible for suppressing the Gen Z movement in which 76 people were killed, was arrested from his residence at Subidhanagar in Kathmandu, according to Nepal police. The development comes days after the arrest of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and then home minister Ramesh Lekhak.

A probe commission formed to investigate the incident surrounding the Gen Z movement had recommended legal action against Oli and Lekhak, among others, under criminal offence.  On Monday, Nepal’s Supreme Court refused to provide interim relief to Oli even as protests continued in Nepal over his detention.

In response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Oli’s wife, Radhika Shakya, claiming her husband’s detention was unlawful, a single bench of Justice Meghraj Pokharel refused to issue an interim order for Oli’s release.

Oli and Lekhak were sent to judicial custody for five days by the Kathmandu District Court on Sunday.

The arrests came after the newly-formed Balendra Shah government decided to implement the report of the probe commission in its first cabinet meeting.

The youth-led Gen Z protest against corruption, nepotism, and a social media ban had led to Oli’s ouster as prime minister.