DIG-led teams reach Dolpa to investigate tunnel prison escape

Karnali Province Police Chief Deputy Inspector General Jayaraj Sapkota and a five-member central team have reached Dolpa to investigate how eight prisoners escaped from Dolpa District Prison by digging a tunnel. The central team is led by Senior Superintendent Rajiv Basnet of the Karnali Province Police Office in Nepalgunj.

Both teams will examine the prison's security management, the situation before the escape, the responsibility of security personnel, and weaknesses in surveillance, according to Karnali police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Santosh Singh Rathore.

Sapkota said serious negligence has been seen in the early investigation. He said he will inspect the site himself and that anyone found guilty during the investigation will be suspended.

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The prisoners fled on Friday night. The escape came to light on Saturday morning at 6 a.m., when a headcount found eight inmates missing. They broke through the prison's inner wall and outer compound structures and dug a tunnel of about three and a half metres, four to five feet deep, working around a septic tank, according to Chief District Officer Junu Hamal.

Five of the escapees were in rape cases and three in theft cases. Six were serving sentences and two were in pre-trial detention.

A three-member district committee led by Police Inspector Binay Kumar Singh had already been formed to investigate. The arrival of the central team expands the investigation into the role of the prison administration and the responsibility of staff on duty.

Hamal said the prison's duty in-charge had been changed three days before the escape, after a drug-related incident, and the escape happened three nights later. Police have increased surveillance at possible transit points and exit routes while the search for the escapees continues.