K. P. Sharma Oli and Ramesh Lekhak were released from custody on Thursday on personal recognisance bail after investigators failed to complete a probe within a court-set deadline, police said.

A joint bench of the Supreme Court of Nepal had on Monday directed authorities to either finish the investigation by Thursday or release the two leaders. The order was issued by Justices Binod Sharma and Sunil Kumar Pokharel.

Kathmandu police spokesperson Pawan Kumar Bhattarai said both leaders have been released on the condition that they will appear before authorities when required.

Oli was handed over to his wife, Radhika Shakya, while 62-year-old Lekhak was handed over to his wife, Yashoda, Bhattarai said.

The two leaders were arrested last month over alleged involvement in suppressing the Gen Z protests of September 8 and 9 last year, in which 76 people died.

"I have finally been released after 13 days of prejudiced and revengeful detention by the authorities. I have been freed in the absence of a proper ground and proof to move a legal case against me," Oli wrote on his social media account shortly after his release.

Oli leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), while Lekhak is a senior leader of the Nepali Congress.

Their arrests followed a decision by the government led by Balendra Shah to act on a probe commission’s report on the protests.

The commission, formed under the interim government headed by Sushila Karki, had recommended legal action against both leaders, holding them responsible for the deaths.