Nepal Gen Z protest: Over 13,500 break free from jails, some wanted in India

More than 13,500 inmates have escaped from jails across Nepal within 24 hours of the Gen Z protest movement, turning the uprising into the country's worst internal security crisis in decades.

It's also become a headache for India as some of the fugitives are wanted in this country or have active criminal networks in the towns and villages bordering Bihar and UP, raising alarm on both sides of the open border. Prison officials say a few escapees have even phoned in, promising to return once the chaos dies down - but most remain untraceable. When the jails emptied, court records burned in arson, complicating follow-up action for authorities.Among those who escaped are some of Nepal's most notorious convicts and politically sensitive detainees. They include Sanjay 'Takla' Sah, a former junior minister convicted for the 2012 Janakpur bomb blast; Uday Shetti, a kidnapper with cross-border operations in the Raxaul-Sitamarhi corridor; suspended deputy PM Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, facing trial in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam; and former home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey.

Sah was also convicted in the 2007 murder of Arun Kumar Singhania, an Indian-origin industrialist and founder of Radio Today in Janakpur. Singhania's killing drew outrage in Bihar and Jharkhand, where his extended family remains active in the textile and media sectors."As of Thursday morning, 13,572 inmates have escaped across the country," said DIG Binod Ghimire, spokesperson for Nepal Police. "That includes prisoners convicted of terrorism, organised crime, and corruption.

We are trying to verify how many have crossed into India."Shetti, transferred to Rasuwa after inciting unrest at Nakkhu jail, escaped on a motorcycle. Intelligence officials in Bihar confirmed that at least three escaped convicts were previously listed in Interpol notices. "Nepal's prisons once held men who ran extortion rackets in north Bihar and east UP," said a retired IB officer. "Now they've vanished."The first major breach followed the release of former deputy PM minister Rabi Lamichhane from Nakkhu Tuesday.

Minutes later, over 1,000 inmates walked out of the same jail. "By evening, Nakkhu was empty," said SSP Shyam Krishna Adhikari. "They lit fires on way out. We lost control."By Wednesday morning, escapes were reported from Dillibazar (1,100), Jhumpka (1,575), Sundhara (over 3,000), Kaski (773), Kailali (612), Jaleshwar (576), Kanchanpur (450), and Sindhuli (471). In Myagdi, 72 of 88 inmates fled. In some districts, the breakdown extended beyond prisons.

Escaped convicts in Kapilvastu stormed the district court and prosecutor's office, targeting evidence files. At least 560 detainees under investigation are also missing.The prison management department said it has no accurate figures on how many inmates remain in custody. "In some places, people from outside are still trying to break in. In others, prisoners are setting fires," said director Chamendra Neupane.

A senior official at Sundhara said some fugitives had phoned in. "They said: 'We didn't mean to escape. We'll come back.' Maybe a few will... But most are gone."Fear has now spread through districts where some of the escaped men previously operated with impunity. "We've sent our children to the hills," said Manju Gautam, 34, a nurse whose husband testified in a cross-border kidnapping case. In Sunsari, teacher Meena Subba, 29, said parents were pulling children out of school. "It feels like police have disappeared. People are locking their doors in broad daylight."