Former Nepal premier Deuba returns home, faces graft probe

Nepal's former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who faces arrest in a corruption case, returned to the country on Thursday 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 prime minister is set to attend a three-day assembly of his party starting Friday.

Gita Chaudhari, a Deuba supporter, said the former premier "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.

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.

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 KP Sharma Oli and ex-home minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested briefly in March for their alleged roles in last year's 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.