In an incident coming from the Sitamarhi district in Bihar, the Nepal police have allegedly opened firing along the border and have killed one Indian and have injured four others.
As per the local sources, the firing was a result of a clash between the local Indians and the personnel of Nepal police along the Lalbandi-Janki Nagar border in Pipra Parsain panchayat. The area comes under the Sonebarsha police station of the district. The additional director general of police, Jitendra Kumar has confirmed the death and the injuries of the locals. However, the place of firing falls under the Nepal jurisdiction.
The 25-year-old Vikesh Kumar died on the spot while Uday Thakur and Umesh Ram who suffered bullet injuries. Both Uday Thakur and Umesh Ram were working in agricultural fields. Another person Lagan Rai has been detained by the Nepali police. The injured persons were rushed to the nearest Sitamarhi Sagar Hospital for better and immediate treatment.
According to the father of Vikesh Kumar, the 25-year-old who passed away, the agriculture field where Vikesh works fall under the Narayanpur area in Nepal. This incident comes after the Nepali forces had fired blank rounds on May 17th to disperse dozens of local Indians trying to cross the border. It is still unclear if they were farmers.
Soon after the incident, the district magistrate and the superintendent of police have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.
Intensifying Border Issues
Off late political atmosphere along the borders of the Indo-Nepal region has been intensifying as Nepal has opposed the link road that was built by India in the Kalapaani region. The Kaalapani dispute between the two countries dates back to the 19th century. While the things were calm for centuries, in recent years, there has been tussle along the border.
As per Nepal, the river to the west of Kalapaani is their main river Kali and hence they claim it to be their territory. India claims the region as its own the river flowing to the west of Kalapaani is not the main Kali river. The Sugauli treaty was signed between British India and Nepal on the 4th of March 1816. As per the treaty, it allows Nepal the Kali river. However, over time as the boundaries were drawn between the countries, there were discrepancies about the region. Disputes also began about the origin of the Kali river. Since 1962, the Indian government has repeatedly said that the border should be alone the ridgelines of Mountain Om Parvat.
On June 10th, Nepal’s parliament approved an amendment to their constitution which will now allow the country to depict 400 sq. km of Indian territory as theirs in their map.
Source: Hindustan Times
