The toll from the violent protests in Nepal against corruption and the government increased to 51, AFP reported on Friday.
This included at least 21 protesters and three security personnel, police Spokesperson Binod Ghimire told AFP.
Ghimire added that more than 12,500 prisoners who escaped from several jails in the country during the protests are still on the run.
The death toll includes several inmates who were killed during or after their escape in clashes with security forces.
Fifty-four inmates who escaped from Bharatpur jail in Chitwan have voluntarily returned after a mass jailbreak on Wednesday, when 740 prisoners escaped the facility, The Kathmandu Post reported on Friday.
“The atmosphere on Wednesday was different,” Chitwan district jail chief Ravindra Dhungana told the newspaper. “Everyone fled. Now they are coming back, perhaps realising the government will not leave them wherever they are.”
The jailbreaks began after protesters stormed several prison facilities, setting administrative buildings ablaze and forcing open prison gates.
Reports also emerged of inmates attempting to take over facilities and escape, leading to clashes with security personnel, amid the protests.
The Sashastra Seema Bal, India’s central armed police force responsible for guarding the borders with Nepal and Bhutan, has so far apprehended 67 inmates who escaped from jails in Nepal, ANI quoted unidentified officials as saying.
They were caught when they failed to show valid identification documents to the security personnel at the border, the news agency reported.
Nepal’s police force has begun gradually resuming its operations in the Kathmandu valley, PTI reported on Friday.
Police stations and posts that were vandalised were being reopened and its personnel had returned to patrol streets, the news agency quoted the Kathmandu Valley Police Office as saying.
The agitation in the country was sparked by the Nepali government’s ban on 26 social media platforms, but evolved into a broader protest against alleged corruption and misgovernance.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned from his post on Tuesday amid the protests. Hours later, the Army said that it will assume control of security operations in the country as violent unrest continued in Kathmandu and other cities.
Also read:
- Nepal’s Gen Z revolt risks swapping rot for rule by army and king
- A reminder: India’s democracy is its greatest shield against a Nepal-style revolution
- ‘There was no hope’: What sparked the violent protest in Nepal
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