Menace to society

Bringing the fleeing inmates back to prisons and recovering stolen arms must be a top government priority.

The violence that spiralled out of control following the Gen Z uprising on September 8 and 9 in Nepal has so far claimed 75 lives. Hundreds of people sustained serious injuries, with many still undergoing treatment in hospitals. Arson in vital state institutions such as Singhadurbar, Parliament building and Supreme Court, businesses and media houses shocked folks in and outside the country. Besides these, a serious security issue emerged after the unrest. In one of the biggest jailbreaks in Nepal’s history, around 15,000 inmates escaped dozens of prisons across the country. They are murderers, looters, smugglers and others serving prison sentences or in judicial custody for various crimes. As of Wednesday, over 6,800 inmates who fled the prisons are still at large while 7,300 prisoners have come back—some of them returned to the jails voluntarily while others were rearrested.