JOIN USNepal on Sunday detained 13 Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel for nearly five hours after they “inadvertently” entered the country while chasing suspected smugglers, the second incident along the border within a week amid tension in bilateral ties.
The incident happened around 6:30 am when an SSB patrol party saw some suspicious activity along the Ambari-Kesna border post and was in “hot pursuit” of suspected diesel smugglers.
Nepal’s Armed Police Force (APF) personnel deployed at the border account post at Kechana Village in Jhapa district, bordering Bihar’s Kishanganj district, detained the SSB jawans when they entered the country, Nepal Police sources said. Four SSB jawans were carrying modern rifles, they said.
All 13 SSB personnel were later released after being kept at APF camp in Kechana for nearly five hours.
SSB chief B D Sharma said in New Delhi that the 13 personnel had been freed and “are back in Indian territory”.
“We appreciate the cooperation extended today (Sunday) by our counterparts on the Nepal side and I have ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident so that corrective action can be taken and such incidents do not occur in the future,” he said.
Sharma said there has been no ‘bodily harm’ to the SSB personnel and that they have been extended due courtesies by the APF. The paramilitary force guards the 1,751 km-long open frontier with Nepal.
According to Indian officials, the SSB patrol party comprising 13 SSB personnel followed the lead team of two jawans, identified as constables Roshan and Ramprasad of the 12th SSB battalion deployed in the area, and “inadvertently” crossed over to the other side by about 50 metres into Khuntanmani village after which villagers surrounded it.
“The troops are back (in India) with all their belongings and weapons,” the officials said.
Nepal’s Jhapa district assistant chief officer Dambaru Prasad Niraula said the jawans were handed over to the Indian side after an investigation into the incident. “They were quizzed on the reason for entering Nepal,” Niraula said.
The SSB chief was informed about the incident by his counterpart Kesh Raj Onta, who heads the APF.