Militants plot shift to Nepal border

Rajnath meets top officials, tells SSB to rush reinforcements.

PoK-based terror outfits are struggling to sneak into India and may take the Nepal border route, intelligence agencies have informed the Centre. After India’s cross-LoC military operation last month and subsequent mobilisation of security forces in Kashmir along the Pakistan border, militants have found it increasingly difficult to infiltrate into the Valley.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh has held a high-level meeting with top security officials, including Archana Ramasundram, chief of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), to review the situation. The SSB is the guarding force for the Indo-Nepal border.

The minister has directed that additional reinforcements be rushed to the Nepal border, asking the SSB to immediately identify vulnerable infiltration points, sources said. Indian forces conducted surgical strikes against terror launch pads days after Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 18 soldiers in north Kashmir’s Uri.

Pakistan-based terror outfits are known to have a strong network in Nepal, a constant source of worry for Indian security agencies. Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked from Nepal’s Capital Kathmandu in 1999, while Indian Mujahideen chief Yaseen Bhatkal was picked up with help from local agencies from a hideout on the outskirts of the city in 2013.

The minister has also directed senior officials and the SSB to prepare a detailed blueprint on how to seal the Nepal border to ensure only designated entry and exit points. As of now the border is seen to be extremely porous, causing security concerns. The Centre has already decided to seal the Indo-Pak border in the western and northern sectors by the end 2018, and a similar exercise would now be initiated for the Nepal border as well.

“We have sensitised the SSB regarding fresh intelligence that the Nepal border could be used for pushing in subversive elements into the country. This could not just be for the Valley but also to conduct operations in other Indian cities. The SSB is maintaining a high vigil but some other measures for increasing patrolling and deploying more personnel were discussed at the meeting,’’ a senior ministry official said.