By Nayak Paudel
Kathmandu, Oct. 4:The restrictions in cross-border movement and travel limitations during the lockdown followed by increased surveillance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic assisted Nepal Police more than usual in arresting fugitives.
Senior officers at Nepal Police with whom the Rising Nepal Daily spoke to said that the pandemic led thousands of Nepalis, including many fugitives, to return home and the travel restrictions allowed police to track and arrest the fugitives more conveniently than earlier.
“The ones found guilty in a crime but have been missing are always being searched by our officers across the country; they are facilitated by our major divisions at the centre as well,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kuber Kadayat, central spokesperson at Nepal Police.
The data provided by the Nepal Police headquarters show that among the 51,055 accused in different crimes in the Fiscal Year 2018/19, 44,159 were arrested while 6,896 were at large. Similarly, 7,528 accused were missing in 2017/18 while 40,766 were arrested.
Likewise, 30,159 accused were arrested in 2016/17 while 5,838 were missing.
While police have been arresting fugitives throughout the year, the recent lockdown and the ensuring restrictions allowed the law enforcement agency to arrest many fugitives, sometimes even many in a single day.
On September 20 alone, Syangja District Police Office and Tanahun District Police Office had arrested 73 fugitives. Among them, 48 were arrested by Syangja Police and 25 by Tanahun Police. The arrested ones were accused of their involvement in murder, rape, drug abuse, cheque bounce, robbery and domestic violence, among others.
According to senior officers at the district police offices, the lockdown assisted them than the earlier times in tracking fugitives and arresting them.
“People were unable to leave their home and travelling in hiding was difficult during the lockdown. There were no hotels opened to hide other than in houses and it all made us easier to search and arrest them,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Hobindra Bogati, chief at Syangja District Police Office.
Syangja Police, like others, have been conducting a campaign to arrest fugitives across the year and as a result Nepal Police have been able to arrest as many criminals.
“Some people escape. But they are always being searched for. The ones hiding within the country are arrested at the earliest and we await the ones who had crossed the border and fled. The pandemic brought many such fugitives from across the border,” said Kadayat, who added, police department arrests fugitives even after many years.
On August 23, Myagdi District Police Office arrested 44-year-old Chandrawal Gharti. Gharti had been sentenced for 20 years in prison by the district court for murdering a 22-year-old on November 6, 2000. Gharti was arrested 20 years later and has been sent to the district jail.
Myagdi Police had arrested 13 other fugitives involved in murder, robbery, theft and drug smuggling in the last two months before Gharti’s arrest and several others after him.