Escaped US Citizen Hasta Gautam Remains Outside Police Radar

Name: Hasta Gautam
Country: United States
Case: Human trafficking and smuggling

The person described above is on the police’s most wanted list. He escaped from Central Jail Jagannath Devalgan on Bhadra 24—the second day of the Gen-Z movement—about three months ago.

During the Gen-Z protests, approximately 14,559 inmates fled from jails, and as of Poush 7, around 9,966 have returned to prison—some on their own and others rearrested by police.

However, Gautam remains missing and off the police radar. He is a person with a disability who needs a wheelchair to move. Even more than three months after the Gen-Z movement ended, he has not been found.

Gautam was imprisoned in Nepal on charges related to selling Nepalis to the U.S. for trafficking. He was convicted by Kathmandu District Court after admitting to sending over 200 people to the U.S. before his escape.

Despite police efforts and monitoring at airports and border crossings, there is no confirmed sighting of him anywhere, according to SP Bishwaraj Khadka of the Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau.

The police suspect that he may have used the Gen-Z unrest to evade capture, and he remains one of 77 fugitives still on the bureau’s wanted list, with a special team assigned to find him.

Authorities note that because of his physical disability, Gautam cannot walk without assistance, making it unlikely he left the country alone, but they have not ruled out the possibility that he may still be hiding within Nepal.

Despite heavy surveillance at airports and borders following the mass escapes from prisons during the Gen-Z protests, Gautam has not appeared on any radar or been located