Commission Report Reveals Over NPR 84 Billion in Damages and Looted Arms Following 'Gen-Z Movement' Protests

Kathmandu. It has been revealed that widespread material damage occurred during the 'Gen-Z Movement' protests on Bhadra 23 and 24, along with the looting of security forces' weapons, posing a serious threat to national security.

According to the report from the investigation commission formed to probe the incident, physical damage exceeding NPR 84 billion occurred during the protests. Furthermore, more than 1,300 weapons belonging to security agencies were looted.

As per the commission's preliminary collection obtained by Ratopati, damage was inflicted upon the property of a total of 1,634 entities, organizations, and individuals during the movement.

The commission's own initial assessment showed damages amounting to NPR 41.8918709 billion. The private sector bore the brunt of the losses, with damage to 821 private individuals' and entities' assets totaling NPR 22.2781 billion.

Similarly, government and public sector entities suffered damages amounting to NPR 14.7472 billion across 571 bodies, while community and other sectors incurred losses exceeding NPR 3.98 billion.

Regionally, Bagmati Province faced the largest physical loss, with damages estimated at NPR 11.0297 billion, while Karnali Province experienced the least loss at approximately NPR 7.8150 billion. Courts, federal ministries, district administration offices, and even political party offices were subjected to vandalism during the protests.

The investigation commission admitted that due to a shortage of manpower, it could not collect complete damage details in the field. Therefore, the commission adopted the statistics collected by the National Planning Commission as official. According to the National Planning Commission's report (2082), the total physical damage from the movement was NPR 84.4577 billion.

The report highlighted that the movement caused not only physical damage but also a serious crisis for national security. During the demonstrations on Bhadra 23 and 24, protesters looted a total of 1,342 weapons and 118,525 rounds of ammunition from the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force.

The Nepal Police and Armed Police Force headquarters stated that only 745 weapons and 28,068 rounds of ammunition have been returned so far out of those looted. The commission concluded that the continued presence of a large number of weapons outside official custody poses a serious challenge to national security.

The report warned that these weapons could be smuggled across the open border, fall into the hands of foreign criminals, or lead to an increase in theft, robbery, and violent activities in society. Since there are no clear legal provisions for the return of looted weapons, the commission pointed out the necessity of amending laws related to arms and ammunition.