Sixteen firearms and over 9,000 rounds of ammunition looted from police in Jhapa during the nationwide Gen Z movement in September remain untraced.

Police officials said on Tuesday that although some weapons taken by protesters have been recovered from bushes and tea estates in recent days, around a dozen and a half firearms and thousands of bullets are still missing.

Protesters looted weapons by taking advantage of the unrest at the area police offices in Anarmani and Damak.

Khagendra Bahadur Khadka, spokesperson at the District Police Office said 15 firearms stolen from the Nepal Police have yet to be recovered.

A source at the Armed Police Force Nepal said one Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) looted from the force is also still missing.

The unrecovered weapons from the Nepal Police include one SLR, one .303 rifle, two sub-machine guns, one shotgun, one INSAS rifle, two Mark-IV rifles, four revolvers, one pistol and two gas guns.

A total of 9,081 rounds of ammunition of these weapons have also not been found, said Khadka. Similarly, the Armed Police Force is yet to recover one SLR, four SLR magazines, 539 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and four gas shells.

Security agencies say efforts to trace the missing arms and ammunition are ongoing, citing serious public safety concerns.