After a violent clash among inmates, security personnel entered the prisoner block of Kailali District Prison on Sunday afternoon, which had remained tense since Friday night. Prison staff, along with a joint team of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force, conducted a headcount of the inmates on Sunday. On Friday night, one group of prisoners had attacked another, after which the inmates had barred security personnel and prison staff from entering the prison block.
On Sunday afternoon, after discussions with the inmates, they agreed to allow entry, and the security personnel went inside. Earlier, the inmates had placed gas cylinders at the main gate of the prison and threatened to set them on fire and cause an explosion if police tried to force their way inside. The next morning, on Saturday, Chief District Officer Gogan Bahadur Hamal and a security team attempted to enter the detention block, but the inmates did not allow them in. Even a team from the Human Rights Commission was denied entry by the prisoners.
According to the prison administration, Block ‘A’ houses 396 inmates, Block ‘B’ has 198, and Block ‘C’ has 57 inmates. Block ‘C’ is for female prisoners.
On Friday night, inmates from Block ‘A’ of the district prison attacked those in Block ‘B’, killing one person and injuring 48 others. Earlier, on the 6th of August (22nd of Saun), a clash between inmates in Kailali Prison had left five people injured. One of the injured is still undergoing treatment. Since that day, the prison has been unable to conduct its daily inmate headcount, which is normally carried out every day.
The family of Bharat Chaudhary, who was killed in the prison clash, has refused to receive his body. His body is being kept in the mortuary of Seti Provincial Hospital. Chaudhary, aged 36 and a resident of Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City–4, died when inmates from Block ‘A’ of the prison attacked those in Block ‘B’.
