Nepal Sets Up Panel To Probe Deadly Anti-Corruption Protests

Nepal’s interim government, led by former Chief Justice Sushila Karki, has established a panel to investigate the deadly violence that erupted during anti-corruption protests earlier this month, leaving 74 people dead and more than 2,100 injured.

The protests, initially driven by young Nepalis frustrated with corruption and unemployment, quickly escalated into the nation’s deadliest unrest in decades. Demonstrators torched the main government complex housing the prime minister’s office, Supreme Court, and parliament building, along with malls, luxury hotels, and showrooms allegedly linked to politically connected elites.

Finance Minister Rameshwore Khanal announced that the three-member panel, chaired by retired judge Gauri Bahadur Karki, has been given three months to complete its inquiry. The committee will examine the causes of the unrest, loss of life and property, as well as alleged excesses by both security forces and protesters.

Former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who resigned following the protests, has also called for a thorough investigation. In a statement, he insisted that his administration did not authorize security forces to open fire, claiming that “outsiders” infiltrated the demonstrations and that police did not have access to the type of weapons used against the crowd.

Gauri Bahadur Karki, who previously chaired Nepal’s special court on corruption, is widely regarded as a judge of integrity and is expected to bring credibility to the investigation.