Police arrest Nepal's former energy minister Deepak Khadka

Nepal police on Sunday, March 29, arrested former energy minister and Nepali Congress leader Deepak Khadka in connection with a money laundering case, local media reported.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police took Khadka into custody on Sunday morning, The Himalayan quoted CIB spokesperson Shiva Kumar Shrestha as saying.  The police detained Khadka for investigation after receiving a request from the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, The Kath Mandu Post reported.

During the Gen Z protest last year, images and videos had surfaced showing burnt fragments of banknotes at the residences of Khadka and former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, it added.  The findings were reportedly later confirmed through forensic laboratory tests.
Khadka was accused of receiving financial benefits in exchange for facilitating licences and contracts for projects while serving as the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, it said.

The arrest comes a day after former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested on charges of their involvement in suppressing the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9 last year, in which 76 people, including around two dozen youths, were killed.