Rautahat police inflate arrest tallies by counting fine payments as captures
Summary
Rautahat police are accused of inflating fugitive arrest figures by collecting court-ordered fines from people at home or on the road and then publicly reporting them as arrests. Court and legal officials say the practice bypasses required custody procedures and can damage citizens’ reputations.
Key Points
- Kantipur found that Rautahat police counted fine payments as fugitive arrests in multiple dishonoured-cheque and other court cases.
- Court officials said only three of nine names on a police arrest list were actually brought before the court, while the rest had only paid fines.
- Legal experts and court officials said fugitives must be taken into custody and presented before court, not just have fines collected at home.
- Police and provincial officials defended the practice as a service, while critics said it was used to inflate performance statistics and mislead the public.
