Nepal floods: Bank vaults full of cash washed away; police struggle to secure them

In the aftermath of devastating flash floods in Nepal, police face a new challenge – recovering and securing the vaults of at least 20 banks that were swept away by the deluge. The banks' vaults, containing substantial amounts of cash and valuable assets like gold, pose a significant risk of falling into the hands of criminals. Abi Narayan Kafle, DIG, emphasized that while searching for the missing people is the top priority, maintaining law and order is equally crucial.

The police are working tirelessly to locate and secure the washed-away vaults in areas such as Rasuwa, Dhading, Chitwan, and others. Unfortunately, there have been instances of people breaking into the vaults and stealing the cash. Recently, police in Dhading district arrested 29 individuals for allegedly stealing NPR 92 lakh from a vault of the Agricultural Development Bank's Dhunge branch in Trishuli. Securing the vault took the authorities nearly eight hours.

Kafle reported that the vault contained NPR 1.5 crore in cash and gold worth NPR 50 crore. Another instance involved the securing of a vault from 'Krishi Vikas Bank' in Nuwakot. The police, currently deploying 7,894 personnel in rescue operations, have managed to recover valuable assets from these unfortunate situations.