Five districts bordering Nepal safe haven for smugglers

And in spite getting hold of mobile numbers of certain offenders, the security agencies 8212; including Customs, IB, Sashastra Seema Bal SSB, state intelligence department and the Uttar Police Police 8212; have failed to trace the calls.

This has put the smugglers dealing in narcotics, arms and ammunition, timber, gold and fake Indian currency notes operating across the border in an advantageous position. The gangs involved operate within the 10-km stretch, using Nepali mobile numbers.

Recently, a Delhi CBI team was probing the fake currency racket and was on the lookout for a Bihar-based dealer operating from the Buxar area.

While collecting information, the officers got hold of the dealer8217;s mobile number.

Later, it was found that the number belongs to a Nepal-based mobile operator and belonged in the same series as the number of the racket8217;s Kathmandu-based kingpin.

The CBI team, however, failed to track the owner of the phone.

For 10 days, a five-member team stayed on the border at East Champaran in Bihar, seeking help of the Nepal Police, but to no avail.

Deputy Inspector General Anil Agrawal of the Sashastra Seema Bal, Lucknow Headquarters, said: 8220;Earlier, Indian networks used to operate across the border. But recently, the Union government has issued directives to ensure that Indian networks are disconnected at a distance of 500 m from the border.8221;

He added: 8220;Our agencies are facing problems probably because there are no such norms in Nepal. The surveillance of a phone is conducted with the equipment available with the mobile-network-service-provider. The agencies had no authority to seek the same from the Nepal-based service providers.8221;

According to IB records, of the 1,664-km Indo-Nepal border, a stretch of 821 km lies in Uttar Pradesh. Of this, 391 km is spread across five districts of the state 8212; Maharajganj, Sidhhartha Nagar, Balrampur, Shravasti and Bahraich.

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau claimed that around 320 villages on the 391-km stretch have become a safe haven for smugglers and criminals. The villagers are paid for providing them with logistics.