A Bank Locker Floated Miles In Nepal's Floods, Then The Loot Began

As devastating floods tore through parts of Nepal, a bank safe carried away by the raging waters became the centre of an unlikely crime story. Police have detained 29 people accused of breaking open the safe and making off with the money inside.

The safe was reportedly carried away by floods in the Bhotekoshi area of Rasuwa and was later found along the Trishuli River near Belkhukhola in Galchhi Rural Municipality-4, Dhading.

According to Dhading police, they received information that locals had broken open the safe and taken out the cash inside.

A police team was immediately sent to the spot, and an investigation was launched. During preliminary searches, 29 people were detained, and 92,68,505 Nepalese rupees (about Rs 57 lakh) were recovered from their possession, police said.

Most of the detained are residents of Mastar in Galchhi-4. Some are from Adamghat in Galchhi-6 and Adamtar in Siddhalek-7, while others originally belong to Chitwan and Parsa and are currently living in Dhading. The detained individuals were aged between 19 and 49.

Police are probing the origin of the recovered cash and examining whether the incident involved additional suspects.

In another shocking incident, two people were arrested for allegedly stealing gold earrings from the body of a flood victim swept downstream in the Narayani River. The arrests came after a video went viral, reportedly showing the men removing what appeared to be gold earrings from the body of a woman carried away by the floodwaters.

Nepal's disaster authority on Saturday sharply revised its figures from the devastating floods, saying 2,426 people are now missing while the number of confirmed deaths has risen to 626.

The latest update showed a sharp increase in the number of missing Nepalis, up from 1,924 reported on Friday night. The number of foreign nationals unaccounted for remained unchanged at 517, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The revised figures came three days after the floods swept through parts of the country, with search and rescue efforts still underway.

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