After the violent incident in Kailali Jail on Friday night, the local administration has increased vigilance in the big and sensitive jails. The administration has become cautious so that a situation like that of Kailali does not occur in those prisons where there have been many violent incidents in the past. In addition, there is a change of guard in most of the prisons in June-July, so there is a power struggle between different groups of prisoners.

A violent incident took place in which one person died and 48 were injured in the process of losing the 'heritage' after the administration started transferring the group of Naveen Rawal, who was serving as Haikam in Kailali Jail. An incident of almost the same nature took place in Sunsari's Jhumka Jail in Chait 2078. After 12 inmates were transferred to another place, 25 inmates were injured in a scuffle over who would be the new watchman. 

In Jhumka, on 18 Chait 2080, a prisoner died of beating. Before that, on 23 November 2069, 12 prisoners escaped from Jhumka prison by digging a tunnel. Because of this Jhumka prison is also more sensitive. There are currently 1,797 prisoners.

'We are monitoring daily inside the prison to prevent unwanted activities,' says Sunsari Chief District Officer Dhamendra Kumar Mishra. We are preparing for monitoring again. In the morning of October 2078, there was a clash between prisoners in Morang, another big prison in Koshi. 

The reason for that was the disharmony between Chowkidar Kiran Gurung's faction and another faction. Although there have been no untoward incidents since then, the district jail at Hatkhola in Biratnagar is sensitive. There are 1,150 prisoners who are serving sentences in various cases and are under pre-trial detention, of which 1,43 are men and 1,17 are women. 2 minors are also there. Jail chief Gaurav Dhungel says, 'We have adopted extreme caution.'

In July 2080, prisoners protested after the prison order department wrote to Jhapa prison guard Manoj Lavati to transfer jhumka. On 19th July 2080, they not only shouted slogans, but also set fire to stones. They threw bricks and attacked the police. The police had to fire 10 rounds in the air for control. After the movement, the chowkidar was transferred to Thamauti. There are now 1,566 prisoners in Jhapa prison. 

13 people were injured, including Acting Chowkidar Vijay Mahato, in a clash between two groups in the afternoon of 4th July in Siraha Jail. They were given first aid at Siraha Provincial Hospital and sent to Central Prison Kathmandu. Mahato and Internal Administration Nike Indrajit Yadav, who were once in the same group, were recently divided into two groups.

This clash happened between their own group. According to a prison official, Mahato and his group, who were running the internal administration of the prison after being jailed in the duty killing case, were illegally extorting money from the inmates. The prisoners had also complained verbally to the prison administration several times about this matter. "But when there was no hearing from anywhere, there was a clash," said the officer. 

Kantipur published the news on 24 October 2081 with scenes of Mahato and Yadav drinking alcohol and using mobile phones inside the prison. It was revealed that drugs were also found in the prison.

After the news about this came, the District Security Committee, under the direction of the Prison Management Department, formed a five-member investigation committee led by DSP Bishnu Prasad Soti of Nepal Police, including representatives of the prison and district administration. The committee submitted its report to the District Security Committee on 4 December 2081 after spending one and a half months. But the committee did not make the report public. 

An inmate says that there is a dispute in Siraha prison every five/seven days. "Asti came out as a big incident, but there are disputes here," he said. Devkumar Yadav of Siraha claims that illegal activities take place in the jail with the connivance of government officials. There are currently 447 prisoners in Siraha prison with a capacity of 150 people. 

On 16 July, there was a clash between Nike and inmates in Bardia District Jail, in which 10 people were injured. According to the head of the prison, Man Bahadur Saru, legal action has been initiated against six people involved in the clash. Jail chief Saru said that six people involved in the latest clash have been prosecuted. "There are 5 prisoners in the death of duty case who were transferred from Kailali last month," he says. We have transferred prisoners who show chaos.' 

According to Saru, the head of the prison, the clash took place when there was a dispute over the dining table. But the inmates have been expressing dissatisfaction with the selection of Naike, Sahanaike and Chowkidar. They complain that the head of the internal administration of the prison makes people close to the chowkidars naikes and sahanaikes. Similarly, there is another allegation that the prison administration has sent Nand Jaisi, who is serving prison sentence in the case of extortion. 

Santosh Tamang is on the men's side and Jadjanadevi Pathar Chowkidar on the women's side. Tamang is a prisoner of human trafficking and Pathar drug case. Chief Saru said that 52 NIKE and SANAIKE were also selected for internal administration management in this financial year. He said that the recommendation committee of three persons under the coordination of the Assistant Chief District Officer recommended the names of Chowkidar, Naike, Sahanaike to the department as per the criteria and the same was approved.

Some prisoners including Pakistani citizen Nasir Ali were transferred to Kathmandu three years ago after getting information about drug dealing inside the prison. It was found in the investigation that Ali kept the drugs inside the furniture and sent them to Kathmandu from the prison. All the police stationed there at that time were drawn to the district. Ali was arrested with the drug cocaine in Kathmandu on 9th December 2015.

A year ago, the prison police arrested Vijay Thiruwa of Gularia municipality-2 Sangambasti who had come to visit the prisoners with brown sugar, a drug he had hidden in raw fish. 11 years ago, the local administration raided the prison while the jailer, the police and the inmates were gambling. At that time jailer Muralidhar Puri was left with only an explanation.

In July 2080, there was a big controversy over the death of a prisoner who tried to escape from Sankhuwasabha prison the next day. In that incident, it was found in the investigation that two people who tried to escape from the prison died due to extreme torture by the police and inmates.

On 17 July 2081, a fight broke out between Nike inmate Rohini Karki and inmates Santosh Periyar and Subas Vick in District Jail Khotang. Rohini sustained injuries on her left hand and Santosh and Suvas on their heads. Santosh and Subas were transferred from Jhapa and Jhumka to Khotang only four/five months before the clash. To prevent the incident from happening again, four people who were in district jail Khotang were transferred to Rautahat and three people were transferred to Parsa jail. 

The prison administration says that the crowd of prisoners, the presence of prisoners involved in serious crimes and factionalism within the prison make security challenging. From the point of view of security, Nepal Police and Armed Police Forces have been deployed in more sensitive prisons. During the election, the security of prisons across the country has been given to the Nepali Army. 

Shiv Paudel, president of Tarun Dal Chitwan, was attacked by a prison inmate on 20 November 2068. In February 2068, 30 people were injured in a clash at Birganj Jail. Many of the injured were hit on the head and hands by sharp weapons. In Baisakh 2073, a dozen prisoners were injured in a clash in Bhimfedi Jail. In Mansir 2073, eight people were seriously injured and four were slightly injured when two groups clashed with wood and iron rods in Jaleshwar Jail of Mahottari.

The gang in Kailali is the gang

Gangster groups like Naveen Rawal group, Cobra group, Jayandra Shah group are active in Kailali prison. Navin Rawal's group, which was involved in the Tikapur Bhupendra Baduwal murder case, has been carrying out various criminal activities including extortion even outside the jail.

The latest incident linked to the group is the stabbing and stabbing of 31-year-old Tekendra Singh Bista of Tikapur Municipality 1. Rhythm Dhungana and Milan Chand, who were absconding after the attack on Bista, were arrested by the police on 28th of June after shooting them in the knee. They are in the Rawal group.

Another gang rivaling the Rawal group is the Jayandra group. According to the security officer, Kapil Shrestha of Jayandra Group has been doing various activities from Kailali Jail. "Most of the Jayandra group are outside the jail," he said, "because they are gangs that keep disrupting the activities of the Naveen group, there is enmity between these two groups." A group of Bhandari was arrested on the charge of killing 25-year-old Arjun Das of Janki Rural Municipality of Kailali on 3 January 2078 by tying him to a tree in Amravati Community Forest. The security officer says that the youth of that group, who are inside and outside the prison, are carrying out criminal activities in a planned manner. The statements of the families of Bharat Choudhary, who died in the incident on Friday night, also strengthen the suspicion that criminal activities take place inside the prison as well.

The family members said that Bharat was asking for money every week from the jail. The financial condition of the house is weak. We used to borrow the same, sometimes 2000, sometimes 5000, sometimes 7000 and went to jail,' said Vijay's sister Bibha Chaudhary, 'We could not get the money ourselves. He used to say give it to the watchman and Nike. Now there is a doubt as to why and for what they were asking for that much money. A couple of times they even asked to put money in e-service.

Prison administration had transferred 16 people from Rawal group to Dang, Bardia, Dailekh and Banke since 3 June. After that, the Naveen group came up against the transfer using various pretexts. "From this incident, it can be assumed that people from other groups in the prison are also included in the Rawal group," said a police officer. A watchman, one Nike equal to 25, one Sahanike equal to 10 are selected from among the prisoners in the jail. Nike, Sahnaike and Chowkidar should be selected for this year by the end of June. Jalandhar Bhusal, who was assigned on Saturday, said, "A lot of things will be revealed after the investigation. At present Parashuram Rana is a watchman.' 

Always busy in Kaski

For the current financial year, the Jail Management Department appointed Ajay Gurung as Chowkidar of 'A' Block of Jail Office Kaski on 4th July. Tension was created in the jail when Ajay was made a chowkidar instead of Prakash Gurung, who was preferred among the inmates. The prisoners of 'A' block protested.

Prakash's supporters also demonstrated outside the jail. He pressured Prakash, who was already a co-chowkidar, to be made a chowkidar according to the roll order and on the basis of leadership ability. They alleged that 'outer' Ajay, who was in/out of jail, was made a chowkidar in financial manipulation. Both Ajay and Prakash are prisoners serving life sentence. A large number of police had to be mobilized to control the

situation. On the same day in the evening, both were taken to the custody of District Police Office Kaski. On July 5, pro-light prisoners went on hunger strike. He wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs and demanded the cancellation of Ajay's appointment. But on July 6, the department returned Ajay to the jail as a watchman. Prakash was sent to Tanahu Jail. 5 prisoners from his side were sent to Bhimfedi Jail in Makwanpur. 10 people were shifted to 'B' block.

There are three blocks in Kaski Jail, one for men, one for women and one for men. It is always a struggle to be a janitor in a male block. Being able to run the internal administration inside the prison and earn a lot of money by doing business inside the prison is also a reason to become a watchman.

Chowkidars are appointed by the Jail Management Department based on the recommendations of a committee headed by the Chief District Officer. But the prisoners themselves say that the chowkidar is appointed on the basis of financial manipulation without choosing from among the prisoners. Although Kaski Jail has a capacity of 420, there are currently 762 prisoners. As the Lamjung Jail collapsed, 78 inmates were transferred to Kaski. When the number of inmates is high, up to 55 people have to sleep in one room. Jail Chief Rajendra Sharma said that some structures have been added internally. 

Chowkidar's legacy

The position of a prison keeper is called 'golden elephant'. Canteen, grocery store and telephone are operational inside the jail. Fun games like bridge, carromboard, ludo are kept. In places where electricity is not charged, room rent is not required, and cheap labor is available, the cost of groceries and food is more expensive than outside.

The income from these transactions, prisoner transfer-recommendation contracts and the Nike-Vhainaike network all make the chowkidars more 'masters inside the prison' than the prisoners. Political access is also used in the selection of chowkidars. But incidents like arbitrary, extreme torture and financial exploitation of the same watchman have brought about violent situations. 

A Human Rights Network team conducted a study of Jhapa Prison in November 2081. The team concluded that frequent clashes and violent incidents were due to financial manipulation and 'ego' between Chowkidars, Nikes and Vainaikes. There will be a big business inside the prison. It was found that only certain people are taking financial benefits," says Rupak Khanal, a human rights worker involved in the study team. And there will be violent activities like jhapad.' 

It is not allowed to bring alcohol, drugs inside the prison. But the arrangements for buying those items at high prices are arranged inside the prison. For this, Chowkidar and the Nike/Bhainaike network have arranged the 'setting'. Income from rations, trade within the prison, and the 'setting' of prisoner transfers are controlled by the chowkidars. "If the government does not make a clear policy to control the illegal trade in prisons, the problem may become worse," says human rights worker Khanal. 

Counting in Kailali Jail after 42 hours

After about 42 hours of the violent incident in Kailali Jail, the security personnel along with the National Human Rights Commission team were able to enter the jail. After the incident on Friday night, the external security of the prison was strengthened, but the relevant authorities were unaware of the situation inside the prison.

Jalandhar Bhusal, who was posted as Kailali prison administrator, allowed the inmates to enter the prison on Sunday. A team including security personnel entered the prison on Sunday afternoon and said that the condition of the prisoners is normal. After the incident, the prisoners could not be counted. Today, we entered the detention center and counted," said Prakash Dutt Bhatt, director of the commission. It is a rule that the prison administration has to count the prisoners every evening. According to

director Bhatt, there were 700 prisoners on the day of the incident, now there are 398 in the male 'A' block, 196 in the 'B' block and 57 in the female block. 46 injured persons are being treated in Dhangadhi, while the injured Ayush Bhatt and Karna Sarumgar have been sent to Kathmandu for further treatment. Prisoner Bharat Chaudhary died in the incident.

The family of 36-year-old Bharat from Dhangadhi sub-metropolitan city-4 refused to pick it up. Vijay, the brother of the deceased, said that he will not pick up the body until the investigation is complete. Chief District Officer Gogan Bahadur Hamal said that efforts are being made to discuss and the demands of the victims' families are being taken seriously. 

What happened in the prison in the meantime? 

- Bricks were thrown at the police in protest against the transfer of the Jhapa prison guard, the transfer was postponed after a riot broke out inside

- Repeated clashes in Sunsari's Jhumka jail, 12 prisoners escaped at once, most of them were arrested but some still absconded

- Kuta Kuta for the selection of guards in Morang prison

- Acting warden won when two groups clashed in Sirha jail 13 injured including Mahato

- 2 prisoners who tried to escape from Sankhuwasabha prison were beaten to death by police and other inmates

- Dispute over the selection of Pokhara chowkidar, situation was controlled by transfer of prisoners after tension

- Chitwan gangster and Tarun Dal district president Shiv Paudel was attacked and killed inside the prison

- A few days ago in Bardia, a clash between Nike and prisoners, 10 injured

Also read the editorial published in Kantipur about the need for extensive intervention in the operation and management of prisons:  https://ekantipur.com/opinion/2025/08/11/prison-reform-to-reform-the-guilty-03-34.html