Inspector General of Armed Police Force Raju Aryal has requested India to help control the prisoners who escaped from jails and weapons looted from police barracks and offices during the Gen-G movement. Inspector General of Armed Police Force Aryal, who arrived in Delhi to participate in the Nepal-India Border Security Coordination Meeting, said that the escaped prisoners and looted weapons have added to the security challenge and requested the Indian side to control it.

An 8-member high-level team led by Inspector General Aryal left for Delhi on Tuesday. The next day, on Wednesday, in a border security meeting, Aryal raised the issue of escaped prisoners and looted weapons during a meeting with Director General Sanjay Singhal of the Indian counterpart, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). According to sources present at the meeting, Director General of SSB Singhal promised to cooperate in controlling the issue, saying that this has added a security challenge to both countries. On 24 Bhadra, 14,043 prisoners escaped from 28 prisons and correctional facilities across the country, and more than 5,000 have not been arrested yet.

Among those who escaped from prison, 520 are Indian citizens and the remaining 99 are third-country nationals. According to sources present at the meeting in Delhi, Inspector General Aryal took the issue seriously and requested assistance in the search, saying that foreign and Nepali prisoners, including the escaped Indians, may have hidden in India by land.

‘There were many other issues on the common agenda in the border security coordination meeting, but during the sideline meeting on 24 Bhadra, we have also informally raised the issue of prisoners who escaped from jail and looted weapons with the Indian side, in response, they have promised to cooperate in searching for the absconding persons and controlling the looted weapons.’

Sources say that Indian SSB Director General Singhal said that they have taken this issue seriously as it is a challenge for the security of both countries. The border security coordination meeting began on Wednesday and will conclude on Friday. The 8-member high-level team includes officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Nepal.

Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs are participating from India under the leadership of SSB Director General Singhal.  The eighth meeting of the border security coordination was held in Nepal in November 2081. In the ninth meeting, a dozen different points will be discussed, including a review of the previous meeting and future strategies, and a common agenda was presented by both sides on Wednesday. 

The agenda of the meeting included border security, prevention and control of cross-border crime, cross-border occupation and its impact on border security, border pillar security, maintenance, supervision, prevention and control of infiltration through the border, review of meetings held at border outposts, battalions, battalions and brigades deployed in border security and the status of their implementation, and additional common strategies and implementation.

Nepal-India has a border spread over a length of about 1,880 kilometers. Since both countries have an open border, movement is easy. However, taking advantage of this, not only third-country nationals infiltrate, but they also easily escape to another country by committing crimes in one country. This is a challenge for the security personnel of both countries. It is said that a joint agreement will be signed on Friday (28 Kartik) to discuss these issues and address common problems.

In last year's meeting, Nepal had urged India to be serious in controlling the infiltration of third-country nationals via land routes. The Nepali side stressed that illegal infiltration is a challenge to national security and that strict regulation and monitoring should be implemented. During that meeting, the Nepali side also raised the proposal to set up a separate ‘tourist desk’ to facilitate the movement of citizens of the two countries and regulate people from third countries.

In the meeting, Amrit Mohan Prasad, Director General of the Indian Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), had said that it was difficult to identify third-country nationals by appearance ‘because their faces and complexions are similar’. ‘Infiltration of third-country nationals affects both countries, and security personnel deployed in the border areas from both countries should be vigilant,’ he had said.

According to the records of the Ministry of Home Affairs, citizens of countries including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Bhutan, and others have entered Nepal through Indian land routes and are engaged in activities as ‘refugees’.

In the meeting last year, when the Nepali side had raised this issue with emphasis, the Director General of the Indian SSB, Amrit Mohan Prasad, had said that it was difficult to identify third-country nationals by appearance ‘because their faces and complexions are similar’. He said that both countries should be vigilant in this regard, saying that the infiltration of people from third countries affects both countries. He will not be present at this meeting.