NEW DELHI: The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that guards the Indo-Nepal Border said on Friday that the situation along the border in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh continues to be tense with the Nepalese citizens gathering in large numbers and shouting anti-India slogans.
Denying media reports that a Nepalese citizen was killed in firing by the SSB, the paramilitary said its personnel did not fire along the border.
However, taking cognisance of media reports, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Archana Ramasundaram has detailed a Deputy Inspector General rank officer to enquire into it.
In a statement issued here, the SSB said, "It is alleged in the media that one Nepalese citizen has died due to firing by SSB. The SSB officials concerned have denied any firing."
"The situation is tense and a large number of Nepalese people have gathered on the spot again and resorted to shouting anti-India slogans and stone-pelting. Local officers and SSB officers and officials of the local administration are on the spot," it said.
The SSB said the clashes first started on Wednesday when some "Nepalese people gathered near pillar no 200" in the Basai area of Lakhimpur Kheri and started pelting stones on the local administration and SSB officials. As many as nine SSB personnel and 34 civilians sustained injuries due to the stone pelting by the Nepalese citizens.
The Nepalese citizens had on Tuesday gathered in the area to build a culvert which was stopped by the SSB personnel deployed in the area. Authorities from both the sides had agreed to allow construction of culvert only after conducting a joint geological survey.
While the local police fired a teargas shell, two were fired by the Nepal police to "disperse the crowd" on Thursday, the SSB said in its statement.
The situation was brought under control by the intervention of the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri and Nepalese authorities from Kanchanpur.
The SSB, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, guards the 1,751 km long Indo-Nepal border.