Nepal police detain Indian national, shoot another dead

An Indian civilian was killed in alleged firing by Nepal police personnel along the international border in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district on Friday (June 12). Two other Indians were also injured in the firing, officials said.

An Indian national, Laagan Yadav, 45, has also been taken into custody by the Nepal border police, they added.

The incident took place around 8:40 am “deep inside Nepalese territory”, said Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General Kumar Rajesh Chandra. He said the situation is now normal and “our local commanders immediately got in touch with our Nepalese counterparts, APF.”

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Inspector General (IG) of the SSB’s Patna Frontier, Sanjay Kumar, said that the incident took place between locals and the Armed Police Force (APF) of Nepal. One person was killed and two others were injured in the firing, the IG said.

Vikesh Yadav, 22, who suffered a bullet injury in the abdomen area, has succumbed, while Uday Thakur, 24, and Umesh Ram, 18, are injured and admitted to a private hospital in Sitamarhi, according to the officials.

What led to the firing?

As per preliminary reports obtained from locals, the confrontation began when APF troops objected to the presence of Laagan Yadav’s daughter-in-law in their area after they saw her talking to some people from India, they said. Laagan Yadav’s daughter-in-law is from Nepal.

There are relations between locals on either side of this border, and as the front is not fenced, people move around to meet their family members, officials said. APF personnel objected to this meeting, and a heated argument ensued between the two sides and later, about 75-80 Indians gathered at the spot, they said.

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The APF claimed that they first fired in the air to disperse the crowd and fearing snatching of their weapons, they later initiated aimed fire in which three people got hit, officials said, adding that the incident area is between Jankinagar of Sitamarhi district and Sarlahi in Nepal.

Senior officials of the local police, administration and the SSB are at the spot, said officials. The area is guarded by the 51st battalion of the SSB and it falls under border pillar number 319, they said. The SSB is tasked to guard the 1,751 km open India-Nepal border.

(With inputs from agencies)