Goods being smuggled into eastern Nepal from India

Consumer goods including food items are being smuggled into the country from the southeastern checkpoints of Morang district.  

A team led by Inspector Kamal Bahadur Adhikari of the Armed Police Force Border Outpost (BOP) Rangeli seized a batch of smuggled goods on the evening of April 2. The team also seized a mini-truck used in smuggling. Chief of the APF, Morang, SP Tirtha Poudel informs that the smuggled goods including sugar, wheat, rice and bran were taken under control from Dhanatti Toll in Rangeli Municipality-5, Amgachhi.

According to Poudel, the goods were recovered while they were being loaded onto a mini-truck en route to Nepal from India. The truck and illegal goods worth some Rs 1.6 million have been handed over to the Biratnagar Customs Office. One Bharat Sah, who runs a grocery shop in Belbari, Morang, is accused of being the mastermind behind the smuggling. Sah, it is learned, has been running the grocery store as a front and smuggling goods from India for a long time.

Sah has been absconding since his illegal imports including the truck were confiscated. According to Poudel, routine search was intensified after the driver of the truck the APF was trying to stop at the Nepal border fled. Poudel also confirms that smugglers have started using new means of transport after the APF increased surveillance at border checkpoints and went on high alert.

Chief of the APF, Province 1, DIG Vanshi Raj Dahal, has mobilized a special team to control illegal trade and boost security in border areas. In Morang, which has a 63.4 km-long open border with India, there are 11 border outposts of APF with the responsibility of maintaining security and controlling smuggling.