Nepal police have re-arrested over 3,700 inmates who escaped during last week’s violent anti-government protests, officials said on Sunday. Deputy Inspector General Binod Ghimire, spokesperson for Nepal Police, reported that 3,723 prisoners have been returned to jail, while 10,320 remain at large, urging the public to remain alert.
More than 13,500 inmates escaped from prisons across Nepal within 24 hours of the Gen Z protest movement, triggering the country’s worst internal security crisis in decades. The mass jailbreak has also raised concerns in India, where some fugitives are wanted or linked to criminal networks along the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh border. While a handful of escapees have reportedly promised to return once unrest subsides, most remain untraceable. The crisis has been further complicated by the burning of court records in arson attacks, hampering follow-up action by authorities.A joint campaign by the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force is underway to track down and arrest the escaped prisoners, DIG Binod Ghimire said, as cited by PTI. Among the escapees are some of Nepal’s most notorious convicts and politically sensitive detainees. They include former junior minister Sanjay ‘Takla’ Sah, convicted for the 2012 Janakpur bomb blast and the 2007 murder of industrialist Arun Kumar Singhania.Others are kidnapper Uday Shetti, known for cross-border operations in the Raxaul-Sitamarhi corridor, suspended deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, on trial in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam, and former home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey. Singhania’s killing drew outrage in Bihar and Jharkhand, where his family remains active in business and media.
