6,494 inmates who escaped during Gen Z protest still at large

KATHMANDU: A total of 8,054 inmates who escaped from prisons and correction facilities during the Gen Z protests on September 8 and 9 have returned.

According to the Department of Prison Management, a total of 14,549 inmates escaped from different prisons and correction facilities during the protests. Of them, 13,585 inmates fled from 28 prisons across the country, while another 964 broke out of nine correction centers. Ten inmates have died since the mass jailbreak.

Chomendra Neupane, director of the department, said some inmates voluntarily surrendered, while others were rearrested by security personnel.

As of now, 6,494 inmates, 5,872 from prisons and 622 from correction centers, are still at large. Search operations are ongoing to track them down, Neupane added.

Before the jailbreaks, Nepal’s prisons and correction facilities housed 30,646 inmates. The number has now dropped to 23,446.