A few days ago India and Nepal decided to set up a hotline between the two home secretaries to share real-time information pertaining to cross-border crimes and terrorist activities.
This move comes as a relief, especially for Indian security agencies who have found the Indo-Nepal border a menace because terrorists use it routinely as an easy crossover point.
India faces the threat of two types of terror today-- one from Islamic radicals and the other from Hindu radicals. Unfortunately both these types of terrorists have found Nepal to be a safe hub. The accused in the Central Reserve Police Force Rampur camp attack case confess to the police as to how they had used the Nepal border to easily enter into Uttar Pradesh and carry out the attack.
In addition, there are also confessions about how easily fake currency is being pumped in through the Nepal border. While this is one part of the problem, the National Investigating Agency found that the 2008 Malegaon blast accused Ramji Kalsanghra and Sandeep Dange are hiding in Nepal.
During the interrogation of one of the accused in the Malegaon case, Praveen Muthalik, it was found that he had fled to Nepal along with others. The D Gang too has used the Nepal border several times to carry out its operations. Underworld gunman Rashid Malabari who was tasked the assassination of Varun Gandhi was a D Gang operative.
The confessions of several operatives go on to indicate that getting into India using the Nepal border costs as little as Rs 5,000. A terrorist from Pakistan would normally first fly between Lahore and Doha, and then take a flight to Kathmandu. Then, they get in touch with a tout a nday later.
After the payment, they are transported into India on a motor bike. Then, at the border, they take a bus to the destination of their choice.
Officials from the Intelligence Bureau say that the issue was always the speed at which it was being communicated to authorities in Nepal.
"Today there is a strict vigil at the border and intercepts are being picked up all the time," said the official.
"At times, we are unable to put across the message due to jurisdictional hassles. However now once the information regarding any activity on the border is received, it will be passed on immediately to the home ministry. The ministry in turn, would pass it on to their counterparts in Nepal using the hotline which would go a long way in preventing any suspicious activity," said the source.
