Kathmandu, July 9

As many as 2,362 persons absconding after being convicted for various crimes have been arrested from different parts of the country in fiscal 2018-19.

According to Nepal Police statistics, the law enforcement agency rounded up 1,659 convicts from 24 districts where special campaigns were put in place to end the culture of impunity and maintain the rule of law. Police also arrested 703 absconders from other districts. “Nepal Police has arrested 2,362 persons this fiscal, compared to 2,139 in 2017-18,” Superintendent of Police Ramesh Thapa, acting spokesperson for Nepal Police, said.

Those arrested during the current fiscal were convicted by the Supreme Court, special court, high courts, district courts and the Foreign Employment Tribunal, and had been slapped with imprisonment of 2,302 years in jails.

Twenty-four districts where special campaign has been launched to manhunt for the arrest of absconding convicts are Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Sarlahi, Bara, Parsa, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Banke, Mahottari, Rautahat, Makwanpur, Chitwan, Nuwakot, Kaski, Dang and Kanchanpur.

The constitution, Police Act and Rules and Criminal Procedure (Code) Act stipulate provisions for the execution of judgements passed by the courts. “As the law enforcement agency, Nepal Police implements the court judgements subject to these laws,” SP Thapa said.

“We have stepped up search operations across the country as part of judgement execution to ensure that no one is above the law and that every absconding convict is brought to book, no matter how long it might take,” he said. Police have also succeeded in apprehending absconding convicts of crimes which took place 30 years ago.

According to Nepal Police, people will lose their trust in justice system of the country if judgements passed by the courts were not implemented, leading to the culture of impunity. The law enforcement agency claimed it accorded a high priority to maintain rule of law in the country. Most of the persons arrested by police were convicted of fraud, corruption, forgery, tax evasion, drug smuggling, human trafficking, murder, rape, theft and robbery.

According to a record maintained by Judgement Execution Directorate of the Supreme Court, around 131,800 persons convicted of various crimes have yet to be arrested and sent to jail.