Kathmandu: Thirteen personnel of India’s border security force, the Seema Surakshya Bal (SSB), who entered Nepal with arms early on Sunday have been detained, media reported.
The Armed Police Force (AFC) detained them at Kechana in Jhapa after the Indian personnel entered Nepal while chasing oil smugglers, The Kathmandu Post Times reported.
Jhapa Chief District Officer Tej Prasad Poudel said they were trying to ascertain if the SSB personnel entered the country by mistake.
Locals were quoted as saying that the detained men had thrashed a Nepali, Mohammad Alam, while searching his home for smugglers. Four of them had weapons. They crossed the no-man’s-land from Kechana, reports say.
Smuggling of petrol and diesel has become rampant on the India-Nepal border ever since protests in areas populated by the Madhesi ethnic group since September effectively led to a blockade of the border.
Meanwhile, a four-wheel vehicle with an Indian registration plate was vandalised at Kanchanpur in Nepal. Five Maoist cadres were detained following the incident, The Kathmandu Post said.
The police later escorted the vehicle across the border into India.
