Nepal freezes passports of deposed PM Oli, 4 others

Kathmandu, Sept 29 (PTI) Nepal has frozen the passports of deposed prime minister KP Sharma Oli, his home minister Ramesh Lekhak and three others in connection with the violent suppression of the Gen-Z protests early this month.

One of the injured protesters died while undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kathmandu on Monday, taking the death toll in the two-day protests to 76.

Days after Sushila Karki was sworn in as the prime minister of the interim government, a Cabinet meeting on September 21 formed the judicial inquiry commission to investigate the excessive use of force by security agencies during the Gen Z protests that led to deaths.

On Sunday, the high-level judicial commission recommended freezing the passports of Oli and four others. The home ministry moved to freeze the passports on the recommendation of the commission.

Those facing passport freeze include the then home secretary Gokarna Mani Duwadi, the then National Investigation Department chief Hutaraj Thapa and the then chief district officer of Kathmandu Chhabi Rijal, according to the officials.

The five will not be able to leave the country.

According to commission chair Gauri Bahadur Karki, the decision was made to ensure accountability as inquiries into the incident progress.

After the Vijaya Dashami festival, the inquiry commission is likely to record explanations of the top officials, who were also asked not to leave the Kathmandu Valley without taking permission from the authorities, according to officials.

Meanwhile, the CPN-UML has objected to the passport freeze. “The secretariat meeting expresses a serious objection to this act of political revenge,” a statement issued by the CPN-UML secretariat stated. PTI SBP ZH ZH