Nepal: Rights body urges escapees to surrender

KATHMANDU: With the situation in the country gradually returning to normal, Nepal's security agencies and authorities are now desperate to see its 12,000-odd inmates who escaped from different jails during the protest back in their barracks. While security agencies were able to nab around 1,500 inmates -- out of the total 13,500 who fled -- the majority are still missing. What has added to the anxiety of the administration is that the escapees include some notorious criminals, like dreaded gold smuggler Chudamani Upreti , who was lodged in Sundhara Central jail from where around 3,200 inmates escaped on September 9. On Saturday, the country's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) joined in, asking the jailbirds to return and surrender the weapons looted on Sept 9.