As many as 48 individuals arrested in Kathmandu for violence during the September Gen Z protests had prior criminal records, according to Kathmandu District Police Range.

Superintendent of Police Pawan Kumar Bhattarai, the range’s information officer, said police had filed cases against 298 people after the protests. Among them, 48 had previously been arrested and charged in various criminal cases.

Police are investigating four for murder, 28 for offences related to criminal offence, four for theft, one for indecent behaviour, seven for arms-related offences and one for attempted murder. One person is under investigation for both a criminal offence and theft.

SP Bhattarai said many of them had earlier been charged with offences such as attempted murder, indecent behaviour, criminal offence, public offence, forgery, banking offence, drug offence, assault, theft and fraud.

During the September 9 protests, vandalism, looting and arson were reported at Parliament, Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court and 97 police units. A total of 76 people, including three police personnel, died during the two-day unrest.

The September 8 and 9 protests against corruption and nepotism, among other irregularities, spread across the country which eventually ousted the KP Sharma Oli government and led to formation of the interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki.