KATHMANDU, Oct 10: A few days ago in Banke, police detained a man found unconscious on the roadside from a marijuana overdose. What shocked officers was not the drugs but the fully loaded police pistol he carried — one of the weapons looted during the violent Gen Z protests in Kathmandu on September 9.
Such discoveries are surfacing across the country, particularly outside the Valley, where firearms are being recovered from ordinary homes — hidden in bedrooms, kitchens, and storerooms. The scattered recoveries underscore a troubling reality: hundreds of state-owned weapons remain missing, with progress in retrieving them slow and uneven.
According to police sources, over 1,200 firearms were lost during the nationwide unrest. Roughly 100 are believed to have been destroyed in fires that gutted more than 200 police outposts in the Kathmandu Valley alone. So far, only around 300 weapons have been recovered — most returned in the early days of the protests after the Nepali Army, tasked with restoring order, warned the public to surrender looted arms or face prosecution.
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The missing 800 cache of firearms is not limited to pistols. It includes military-grade rifles such as INSAS and SLRs, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.
The unrest left three police officers dead — two at the Maharajgunj Police Circle and one at Koteshwor Police Station. Dozens more fled their posts as mobs overran outposts, with some officers discarding their uniforms to avoid being attacked. As police stations burned, records and stored weapons vanished.
Given the potential security threats, Nepal Police has made the recovery of looted weapons its top priority. A special committee has been formed, and operations are underway nationwide.
“We have prioritized the retrieval of stolen weapons as our primary mission. From headquarters to the smallest units across the country, everyone is working vigorously,” said DIG Binod Ghimire, spokesperson for Nepal Police.
There have been some breakthroughs. On September 14, police recovered 750 rounds of ammunition in Banepa Municipality. Ten days later, two suspects were arrested in Lalitpur with seven pistols. But these cases remain exceptions, with the vast majority of weapons still unaccounted for — a mounting concern as the nation gears up for House of Representatives (HoR) elections on March 5.
The issue has also entered the political spotlight. On Thursday, CPN-UML lawmaker Mahesh Bartaula accused Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane of prior knowledge about the stolen weapons and demanded he take responsibility. The Home Ministry has yet to respond.
As Nepal approaches a crucial democratic exercise, the missing firearms are no longer just a policing failure. They have become a symbol of institutional fragility and growing public mistrust. Until the weapons are recovered and accountability established, one question will continue to haunt the nation: Who holds the guns?
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