Among the 60 people arrested until Monday for vandalism and looting at the New Bus Park-based Lotse Mall and for torching police vans on February 13, three are people involved in frequent thefts who had frequently been nabbed earlier from various parts of Kathmandu Valley for crimes, police said.

“While tracing their history, three of those who we arrested in cellphone theft and vandalism at Gongabu have been found to be involved in frequent theft cases,” said Superintendent of Police Sitaram Rijal, who is also spokesperson for the District Police Office, Kathmandu.

He said police are continuing their investigation, and they are still searching for persons involved in the crime through CCTV footage collected from the crime scene.

Rijal said there might be more people who were arrested frequently for offences like pickpocketing, theft, robbery and other criminal offences in the Valley involved in the riot.

Police suspect that some of the people who were seen in CCTV screening might have already fled Kathmandu as it started to nab the culprits after the incident a week ago. Rijal said police will be nabbing other looters if traders provided them with an IMEI number of the mobile sets stolen from their shops.

Looters had made off with mobile sets worth millions of rupees in the robbery, taking advantage of a protest by public transport workers.

The Federation of Nepal Mobile Business Associations had estimated that mobile sets worth around Rs80 million to Rs90 million were looted in the incident.

Police, however, say they are yet to ascertain the actual value of the loot, as they have not got the details from the traders.

“This is a serious issue, and this incident has alerted everyone of us. The security agencies need to be more alert during such protests in the days to come,” said Rijal, adding that as of Monday, police have charged 15 people for theft, 35 for arson and vandalism and another 15 for offensive activites.

Police say those who were arrested for theft, looting and arson are being detained at Balaju Police Circle for further investigation and those accused of theft are being kept at the Maharajganj Police Circle. Those who are arrested are drivers, helpers, waiters and cooks of hotels based in Gongabu, police said.

Police said they are preparing to file a case at the court in accordance with the chapter 20 of The National Penal (Code) Act, 2017.

Recently, after the incident, videos on social media had gone viral that showed a group barging into a mobile shop in the mall, walking away with new phones, and protesters burning down two police vans.

Photos of pedestrians crossing roads through the tense area with their hands raised were also widely circulated in social media.

Guman Singh Khatri, an assistant professor of Sociology at Tribhuvan University, said the act of theft in a business complex and vandalism indicates the stark reality of absence of security apparatus.

After widespread criticism, the Home Ministry on the second day of the incident, on February 14, directed Nepal Police to probe into the incident and arrest all those involved in the arson of the police vans and looting.

As the protest organised by various organisations of transport operators turned unruly, the organisers were also criticised for failing to take command of the protesters.

“We had never thought that a peaceful protest would turn into such a violent one,” said Saroj Sitaula, vice chairman of Federation of Transport Entrepreneurs’ Associations. “Everyone should take lessons from the Gongabu incident, and protest leadership should take a lead to curb such unwanted incidents.”

The transport operators on February 13 had staged a demonstration against the traffic police’s ‘stringent’ rules, and Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s announcement to not let long and medium route public vehicles be parked in the open spaces other than inside the New Bus Park located at Gongabu, Kathmandu.