Former Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returns home, faces graft probe
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Nepal’s former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has denied the allegations against him.
PHOTO: EPA
- Former Nepal prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned home after six months abroad, facing arrest over money laundering charges amid a government crackdown on corruption.
- Deuba denies the allegations and is set to attend a Nepali Congress party assembly, receiving strong support from his followers despite ongoing investigations.
- The current government, led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah, has targeted multiple senior politicians after 2025 protests sparked by social media bans and corruption frustrations.
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Kathmandu – Nepal’s former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who faces arrest in a corruption case, returned to the country on Aug 13 nearly six months after leaving for medical treatment abroad.
The veteran leader of the opposition Nepali Congress party waved and smiled as hundreds of supporters lined up the streets leading to Tribhuvan airport in the capital Kathmandu.
In April, police issued an arrest warrant for Deuba over money laundering charges, making him the latest high-profile figure targeted under the current government of Prime Minister Balendra Shah.
Deuba, 80, who left Nepal in February, has denied the allegations against him.
The five-term former prime minister is set to attend a three-day assembly of his party starting on Aug 14.
Gita Chaudhari, a Deuba supporter, said the former prime minister “is our guardian and a guardian of this nation”.
“We are grateful for the freedom and rights he gave us,” she told AFP, as she waited to welcome him back to Nepal.
Deuba said in a Facebook post on Aug 13: “With a heart full of gratitude and an open mind ready to embrace the possibilities of change, I have returned to you after five months of medical treatment.
“I return with a deep sense of respect for our shared national responsibility.
“I have returned not to gain power, but to strengthen the national unity.”
Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said Deuba’s case, as well as any decision to arrest him, is being handled by the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.
“We are giving security for him at the airport and to his rally because he is a former prime minister,” Kafle told AFP.
The authorities have also issued a warrant for Deuba’s wife, former foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba.
The warrants were issued a month after Shah won a landslide victory on a platform of youth-driven political change, in the first elections since deadly protests in September 2025.
Shah’s administration has launched a sweeping crackdown on high-profile political figures since coming to power.
Former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested briefly in March for their alleged roles in the 2025 protests.
The youth-led uprising was triggered by a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding frustration over corruption and economic hardship in the Himalayan nation.
Protesters set fire to the Parliament building and offices, eventually toppling the government.
Deuba’s home was among the buildings torched, and videos of protesters attacking the couple circulated widely online. Bundles of cash were reportedly discovered at the property.
In his testimony to a commission investigating the protests, Deuba dismissed videos circulating on social media as potentially fabricated.
“This is a conspiracy, although I do not know who is behind it,” he said.
The commission has recommended further investigation into the cash allegedly found at Deuba’s home and other properties.
Deuba’s tenure as president of the Nepali Congress ended in January, after younger members pushed for a leadership change. AFP
