KATHMANDU: 221 juvenile prisoners have escaped from the Bhaktapur Children’s ‘Correctional Home’. Yesterday, after the death of a minor prisoner, the situation became tense and they escaped.

Out of 296 minor prisoners in the correctional home, 42 girls and 33 boys are currently under the control of the police. 12 others are being treated in hospital.

DSP Basant Pathak of District Police Range Bhaktapur informed that the remaining fugitives are being searched for.

A ‘minor prisoner’ died suspiciously at the Children’s Home in Sano Thimi, Bhaktapur. The protest was intensified after the death of 18-year-old Kamal Basnet, a resident of Manthali municipality, Ramechhap district, on Sunday morning.

The staff of the correctional home took him to Civi Hospital saying that he was suffering from health problems, but his family members claimed that he died before reaching the hospital. According to the order of the court, Basnet was in the juvenile correctional home since 2077 BS.

After the detainees escaped with vandalism, a large number of police have been mobilized in the area.