A farmer from Bihar’s Sitamarhi district was killed on Friday while two others were wounded in alleged firing by the Nepal Police along the India-Nepal border.
As per Inspector General (IG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal’s Patna Frontier, Sanjay Kumar, the incident occurred between locals and Nepal’s Armed Police Force (APF).
The incident carries prominence as it occurred a few days after Nepal’s House of Representative endorsed a new map of the country which shows Indian areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura under its territory.
Notably, the incident occurred during the ongoing border dispute between India and Nepal.
The deceased has been identified as 22-year-old Vikesh Yadav.
The injured – Uday Thakur (24) and Umesh Ram (18) – were rushed to Sitamarhi Sadar Hospital, where their condition is said to be stable.
There is no involvement of Sashastra Seema Bal, tasked to guard the 1,751 km open India-Nepal border, in the matter. Senior Bihar Police officials and the SSB reached the spot.
The Bihar Police said that the Nepal APF resorted to firing at the Lalbandi-Janaki Nagar border following a confrontation and then scuffle over accessing an area.
As per Director General (DG) of the Sashastra Seema Bal, the incident took place deep inside the Nepalese territory. The situation is normal now, added Chandra.
Explaining what exactly happened, Chandra said that at around 8:40 am, a family was going to Nepal. “They were stopped by Nepali security personnel at the border and asked to go back which triggered a verbal altercation. The Nepal security personnel fired around 15 rounds, out of which 10 were in the air.”
“In the firing, three persons suffered injuries and one succumbed to injuries,” added Chandra.
The SSB DG further informed that the Nepali security personnel have detained one person, identified as Laagan Yadav (45). “We are in talks with them so that they release him and matters do not escalate. Everything happened in Nepal, not on the Indian side.”
Sitamarhi Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar, meanwhile, said that the Bihar Police have begun a probe into the incident.
