Prisoner Escapes Central Jail Using Plastic Crates, Raises Security Concerns

Kathmandu. Prisoner Sapana Tamang, 25, escaped from the Central Jail in Sundhara on the morning of Jestha 1. Escaping from Sundhara Jail, which has security under the command of a DSP, is not a normal incident.  

It has been revealed that Sapana, who was arrested from New Road on Jestha 3, made a 'jail break' using a plastic crate for carrying vegetables and fruits. In front of the officials of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office who arrested her, Sapana stated that she escaped by using the crate as a ladder. Quoting her statement, an official from the Crime Investigation Office said, 'I made a ladder with six crates and reached the wall, the barbed wire part on top of the wall was cut, I entered through there and jumped out.'  

While breaking out of jail, she left with two mobile numbers written on her hand. She had written the numbers of Sita Thapa Shrestha's husband Min Kumar Shrestha and son Samir alias Subash Shrestha, who were her cellmates. After leaving jail, she took a taxi and dialed the number of 27-year-old Samir, who is from Bhojpur. However, Samir's phone was switched off. Then, using the taxi driver's mobile phone, she contacted 52-year-old Min Kumar and headed towards Thamel. Min Kumar was working as a security guard in Thamel and was on duty at that time.  

Samir and Sapana were in a love relationship. An official from the Valley Crime Investigation Office involved in the investigation told Ratopati that Sapana, who had been released from jail on Bhadra 24 and stayed in Samir's room in Asan for a few days, called because she couldn't find the room that morning. After meeting Min Kumar in Thamel, he took Sapana to his room.  

Sita Thapa is an accused involved in the cooker bomb blast incident at the church in Dhobighat on Jestha 9, 2066. Three Indian citizens died in that explosion. She has been in jail since 2066. Samir, who works at a utensil shop in Asan, used to visit his mother in jail regularly. He would take raw materials for making puja items to his mother, and his mother would prepare puja items from them and send them back to her son. According to DSP Anil Ghimire of the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Samir used to sell the items prepared and sent by his mother in the market.  

Sapana was also preparing puja items from raw materials inside the jail. During their regular meetings, they fell in love. Investigators say their love affair deepened when they were out of jail during the Genji movement.  

Questions over Security Management

Sapana's successful escape from the prison, which is under the strict security cordon of the police 24 hours a day, in the middle of the night has raised serious questions about security management.  

The security command of the Central Jail has been handled by DSP Shailesh Neupane. When Neupane came as the head of prison security, there was a clash in the women's prison on Falgun 1, 2082. The serious matter is that the prison officials on duty only found out about Sapana's escape the next day during the regular headcount.

It was only when one person was found missing during the daily headcount of inmates that the prison administration and security officials of the Nepal Police's Anashrit Gulm, Jagannathdewal, discovered the fact that Sapana had 'broken out of jail'. Only then did the police become active in searching for her.  

Such incidents questioning the security management of the Central Jail have occurred before. On Falgun 26, 2067, Indian citizen Jasjit Singh, under the pretext of meeting prisoner Charles Shobhraj, shot Yunus Ansari. Ansari, who was serving a jail sentence on charges of counterfeit Indian currency dealings, was shot inside the prison. The first four bullets Singh tried to fire did not go off. The fifth round hit Ansari on the shoulder and ricocheted. Even after 15 years since the shooting inside the prison under the guise of meeting a prisoner, the security management of the Central Jail has not seen expected improvement.  

The Kathmandu Valley Police Office has formed a committee to investigate the incident of the prisoner's escape. SSP Praveen Dhital of the Valley Police Office told Ratopati that a committee has been formed under the leadership of SP Navratna Poudel of the Kathmandu Valley Special Security Police Battalion, Tripureshwor. SSP Dhital said that only after the report of the three-member committee comes out will it be clear where the security lapse occurred. He said, 'After the investigation report comes out, it will be clear where the security lapse occurred.'  

Age 25, Sentence Also 25 Years

Sapana, a resident of Ward No. 13, Kisapang Rural Municipality, Nuwakot, is serving a sentence for serious crimes. The Rasuwa District Court had sentenced her to life imprisonment for kidnapping and holding for ransom, murder, and robbery. If her sentence is not changed by the higher court, the 25-year-old will have to spend 25 years in prison. With her jail break, the offense of escaping from prison has also been added to her criminal record.  

On Mangshir 20, 2077, 6-year-old girl Sumina Tamang from Phailigaun, Kalika Rural Municipality-1, Rasuwa, was returning home from Graang Primary School. She was wearing gold earrings. Sapana tried to snatch the girl's gold earrings and escape. But when Sumina recognized her, Sapana kidnapped the girl out of fear of being caught. A police officer who investigated the incident said, 'It has been revealed that she killed the girl and hid her under straw in a cave in Nagurdung cliff in Kalika Rural Municipality-1, Palep.'  

Before that, Sapana had been arrested and released multiple times for theft-related offenses. She became involved in criminal activities before turning 18 and stayed at the Bal Sudhar Griha (juvenile reform home) in Bhaktapur for some time. At the age of 19, she was arrested for kidnapping and murdering a girl. She was transferred to the women's block of the Central Jail on Baishakh 6, 2077.