Kathmandu | Nepal Police has urged people not to keep, sell or distribute gold, silver, cash and other valuables found after the August 26 floods, and asked them to hand over such items to the nearest police office.

The police said in a statement on Sunday that people who find such property or important documents should inform the authorities and help return them to their rightful owners. It warned that using, concealing, keeping, or buying and selling such items could constitute an offence and could result in legal action.

The police did not specifically link the warning to any particular incident, but the appeal came after a recent case in which 29 people were arrested in Dhading district for allegedly breaking open a bank safe that had been swept downstream by the flood and taking cash from it.

The safe was found on the bank of the Trishuli River at Belkhukhola in Galchhi Rural Municipality, according to Kantipur news portal. The suspects were later arrested.

Nepal Police has separately said disasters can create conditions for increased theft, looting and fraud while security personnel are occupied with search and rescue operations.

Flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal. The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

It has killed more than 1,300, while around 5,000 people remain missing.