PATNA/LUCKNOW/DEHRADUN/JAIPUR: Amid stepped up vigil along the India-Nepal border, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel have nabbed 19 prisoners who escaped from Nepal jails taking advantage of the unrest and tried to enter Bihar and UP that border the Himalayan country.
Ten jail inmates who had escaped from Dillibazar jail in Kathmandu were detained at the border in Bihar and nine in UP. SSB sleuths handed the 10 inmates, including two from Bihar, over to Bittha More and Sursand police stations of Sitamarhi district.
In UP, the SSB rounded up four Nepali prisoners at Sonouli border in Maharajganj and five at Khunwa border in Siddharthnagar, officials said, adding the security agencies are grilling the Nepali prisoners.
Central agencies have sounded a major security alert along the India-Nepal border, cautioning that miscreants could exploit the unrest to trigger violence in adjoining Indian states. State governments have asked police to ramp up security along the border.
“We are keeping a close vigil on the border,” said Pramod Kumar Mandal, DIG, Purnea. Madhubani SP Yogendra Kumar said the district police and all border police stations have been placed on high alert. “People are being allowed to cross the border only after thorough frisking. We are checking the identifications. Our efforts are that no anti-social elements cross the border,” he said.
Following the state government’s directives, UP DGP Rajiv Krishna ordered a round-the-clock surveillance, intensified patrolling, and deployment of additional police personnel in Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj, the seven districts which share around 600-km long border with Nepal.
A special control room has also been set up at the Police Headquarters in Lucknow to assist Indian nationals stranded in Nepal. ADG (law & order) Amitabh Yash said, “The administration is providing all possible assistance to Indian citizens stranded in Nepal.”
Security forces have heightened vigilance along the entire border stretch, from Pithoragarh’s Dharchula in Uttarakhand to the districts bordering Nepal in Bihar. The SSB has placed all border police stations on high alert, with officers continuously monitoring the situation to prevent any infiltration or disturbances.
In Dharchula, movement across the bridge connecting India and Nepal has been stopped, with instructions issued to allow passage only in emergency situations. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami asked officials to keep an eye on the activities of anti-social or mischievous elements in their respective areas by conducting intensive checking.
Thousands of Indian tourists remain stranded in Nepal following the violent protests that broke out on September 8. Among them are many families from Rajasthan, including the relatives of independent MLA from Bayana, Ritu Banawat, and former Udaipur councilor Anil Singhal. Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said the state government is in constant touch with the Indian Embassy. “The evacuation process will begin as soon as the situation improves,” he said.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma appealed to the stranded people to stay in touch with the Indian Embassy.
Airlines to operate spl flights to and from Kathmandu
With Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport opening for operations on Wednesday by 4 pm (IST), the Ministry of Civil Aviation has asked two leading operators—Air India and IndiGo—to operate additional flights from Wednesday night for the next few days. The fares shall be kept at a reasonable level, the ministry has advised.