Nepali police fired tear gas Sunday at thousands of protesters loyal to a former deputy premier once seen as a rising political star, as he appeared in court on charges his supporters say are politically motivated.

Nepal’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane was arrested on Friday evening over his alleged involvement in cooperative fraud and an organized crime. A team of the Central Investigation Bureau under Nepal Police took Lamichhane away from his party’s central office in Kathmandu,

Rabi Lamichhane faces charges of fraud and organised crime related to the alleged embezzlement of funds from a financial cooperative before he entered politics, a case that has garnered national attention.

His arrest sparked protests by his supporters, who called the arrest an act of vendetta by the K P Sharma Oli government led by the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist.