The government has tried to assure the political parties that the inmates who fled several prisons and the weapons looted during the early September unrest will not be allowed to affect the March 5 polls.

Leaders from major political parties, during their meetings with the prime minister and also in public forums, have raised the issue of fleeing inmates and looted weapons as the most serious threat to the upcoming parliamentary polls.

They have accused the government of failing to create an environment conducive to the elections citing the same threat.

Leaders say many of the weapons looted from Kathmandu and outside during the September 9 unrest have yet to be brought back under the control of security agencies.

Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, however, said that all weapons looted or reported missing during the Gen Z movement will be recovered, and that prisoners who escaped then will be brought back to custody before the scheduled elections.

Speaking at a provincial security committee meeting held jointly by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Koshi Ministry for Internal Affairs and Law in Biratnagar on Wednesday, Aryal said most of the absconding prisoners were already in contact with the authorities. He added that the remaining fugitives would be detained soon through a special security operation.

“The government takes seriously the security concerns raised by political parties ahead of the elections, particularly those related to looted weapons and escaped prisoners,” Minister Aryal said.

He noted that the security meeting came under a broad effort to ensure the polls are conducted in a free, fair and peaceful environment.

Aryal also said that mechanisms had been set up to guarantee the active involvement of provincial security agencies before, during and after the elections.

A few days ago, speaking to the media after a meeting of top political leaders convened by Prime Minister Sushila Karki, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba said the government had failed to create the atmosphere conducive for the elections.

Deuba said that although all political parties were ready to go to the polls, necessary conditions for the elections had not been met. He stressed that the government must ensure a proper election atmosphere, including adequate security arrangements.

“All parties are ready for elections,” Deuba said. “The Nepali Congress and other parties are prepared. But the environment has not yet been created. That environment must be ensured, and security arrangements put in place. Even the UML is ready.”

Not only Congress President Deuba, the leaders of other political parties too show concern about the government not doing enough to create the atmosphere for elections.

As both the government and political parties have expressed concern over the weapons looted during the Gen Z movement, the Nepal Police spokesperson says that 70 percent of those weapons have been recovered so far.

“Most of the recovered weapons were lost from the Kathmandu valley and then from Jhapa even though we have not quantified them,” said an officer at the Nepal Police spokesperson’s office.

The Nepal Police Headquarters, soon after the Gen Z movement, had reported that more than 1,100 firearms were looted during the violence that erupted on the second day of the Gen Z uprising.

The demonstrations, which began on September 8, escalated after state suppression, sparking widespread unrest the following day. Protesters targeted police barracks and offices, vandalising and setting them on fire, while looting weapons of various calibres.

Senior Superintendent of Police Ramesh Thapa then had reported that a total of 455 police offices and barracks across the country were damaged. Among them, 197 suffered complete destruction, while 258 sustained partial damage. “In total, over 1,100 weapons—both large and small—were looted directly from our bases,” Thapa said.

According to the Police Headquarters, of the 14,555 prisoners who escaped jail during the Gen Z revolt, 10,007 have been rearrested so far.