Some of the Nepal prison escapees claim to be Indians, SSB apprehends 63 inmates

The number of escapees from Nepal prisons, who have been apprehended by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the India-Nepal border amid the crisis in the Himalayan country, has risen to 63 from 22 a day earlier. The detainees include a woman, a senior government official said on Thursday (September 11, 2025).

The detentions were made along the borders shared by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal with Nepal. The woman inmate was apprehended at Kishanganj in Bihar and handed over to the police. At least two inmates intercepted along the West Bengal border by the SSB were handed over to Nepal authorities by the West Bengal Police, the official said. Once apprehended, SSB hands over the suspects to the local police.

The SSB, a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF), guards the 1,751-km border with Nepal and 699-km India-Bhutan border.

The inmates were apprehended on the basis of a list of prisoners shared by the Armed Forces of Nepal (APF) with their counterparts, the SSB.

Some of the apprehended inmates were claiming to be Indians, the official said.

“Since they do not have any document on them, we are ascertaining their identity. They are saying they were convicted for crimes in Nepal and lodged in jails there,” said the official.

Nepal and India share an open border and residents of the neighbouring country are allowed entry without visas and passports based on documents such as driving licence and other government issued ID-cards.

The SSB and APF conducted joint patrolling at several locations even though curfew was enforced in the neighbouring country. The SSB has opened help desks at border checkpoints to help the stranded people on either side of the border.