Reports: Nepal's former PM arrested over deadly protest crackdown

Former Nepalese prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested in connection with the deadly protests in September, local media reported on Saturday, one day after new Prime Minister Balendra Shah was formally appointed.

Media reports, citing Home Minister Sudan Gurung and police, said former home minister Ramesh Lekhak had also been arrested.

Both men were taken into custody early in the morning, according to the reports.

"PROMISE IS A PROMISE: No one is above the law," Gurung posted on social media, according to The Himalayan Times. He said this was only the beginning of justice and that he believed the country was now heading in a new direction.

In September, the Himalayan country was rocked by serious unrest after a ban on social media platforms drove tens of thousands of mostly young protesters onto the streets. They denounced widespread corruption and nepotism. More than 70 people lost their lives in the unrest.

Oli, who was prime minister at the time, later resigned and parliament was dissolved.

He ran again in the election in early March for the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist–Leninist, but the centrist Rastriya Swatantra (National Independence) Party, led by rapper-turned-politician Shah, won the parliamentary vote by a landslide.