Nepal, Oct. 7 -- Almost a month has passed since over 14,500 inmates escaped from prisons across the country during widespread unrest. However, the government has yet to bring back 5,697 fugitives who remain at large.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier set an October 6 deadline for prisoners to voluntarily return to their respective prison, warning them of additional charges related to prison escape in case of failure. As per the existing law, those who fail to return could face up to 10 years of additional imprisonment and fines of up to Rs 100,000, depending on the severity of their original crimes.

To facilitate the re-arrest, district-level search and arrest task forces were formed, led by assistant chief district officers, ch...