KATHMANDU, Sept 10: After Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane, detained on cooperative fraud charges, was freed amid protests, around 7,000 inmates across the country have escaped from prisons.
The prisoners threatened security personnel while breaking out. With convicts serving sentences for various crimes now at large, fear has gripped the public. Many victims of these crimes have reportedly fled their homes, fearing reprisals.
As jails across the nation were forced open, society has entered a new phase of terror. In many cases, offenders and those protecting them appear stronger than victims and investigators, forcing victims into hiding.
Kavre jail prisoners demand transfer of their 'leaders'
Ensuring peace and security is the state’s fundamental duty, but that obligation has largely collapsed. Law enforcement and administrative structures have become ineffective, with police posts, weapons and infrastructure attacked during the unrest.
The breakdown of crime control, investigation, and enforcement has left the nation without accountability. Escaped convicts could use this opportunity to commit further crimes or settle scores. On Tuesday, armed individuals, including those carrying small and automatic weapons, were seen on the streets, though their origins remain unclear.
Courts targeted
In the aftermath, courts across the country were attacked and burned, suggesting judges and complainants may now be targeted next. Not long after Lamichhane claimed he was released under the Home Secretary’s order, notorious convict Sanjay “Takla”, serving time for the 2012 Janakpur bomb blast that killed five people, also walked out of Nakkhu Jail.
Lamichhane’s release fueled unrest among other prisoners demanding equal treatment. Following Takla’s escape, residents in the Madhesh region were left terrified. Reports suggest Nakkhu, Dillibazar, Kailali, Kaski, Jhumka, Solu, Rautahat, Bhimphedi, Myagdi, and other prisons have been emptied, with convicts from serious criminal cases now on the loose, posing severe security threats.
