Kathmandu, Sept 28: Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Ashokraj Sigdel held a meeting with division commanders on Thursday and had earlier briefed former army chiefs about the situation of September 8–9 (Bhadra 23–24).
Army sources said Sigdel urged then-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli four times on September 8 to resign after 19 protesters were killed that day, but Oli refused. That evening, Sigdel went to Baluwatar and personally asked Oli to step down to calm tensions. Instead of agreeing, Oli became agitated, accusing the army chief of trying to “teach him a lesson.”
That night, Sigdel met with the chiefs of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force and decided that no live ammunition would be used the following day, and all security forces were ordered back to their barracks to avoid escalation. This explains why security forces were absent from the streets on September 9.
Sources said Sigdel again visited Baluwatar the next morning, suggesting Oli’s resignation as the situation worsened, but Oli again refused, suspecting that the army was trying to take over power.
By Tuesday afternoon, the countrywide situation was deteriorating. Sigdel flew again to Baluwatar by helicopter, repeated his request for resignation, and when Oli again declined, Sigdel went to Sheetal Niwas to brief President Ram Chandra Paudel. According to sources, Paudel reacted strongly, accusing Sigdel of trying to undermine democracy.
Later that day, when Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife Arzu Deuba were attacked at their Budhanilkantha residence, Oli finally began to relent. Large crowds had also gathered near Baluwatar, and security was becoming difficult. Sigdel returned to Baluwatar and told Oli firmly that the army could not guarantee his safety without his resignation. Oli finally agreed, and his aide Bishnu Rimal drafted the resignation letter.
After the resignation, the army airlifted Oli and his wife to Chitwan’s Chanauta area under the protection of the Army’s No. 7 Brigade, where they remain under military security, according to army sources.
Sigdel continued consultations throughout September 9–10 with Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, then Chief Justice Sushila Karki, and other stakeholders to find a constitutional solution with minimal casualties.
At a gathering in Gundu on Saturday, former PM Oli said he never ordered police to open fire and called for an investigation into who did. He added that he resigned only after realizing he no longer had control over the situation.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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