Drowning of Nepalese man in Mahakali sparks tension
DEHRADUN: Drowning of a man from Nepal, while he was allegedly trying to come to India by crossing over a swollen Mahakali river with the use of an iron wire, has created tensions near the border in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, officials said.
The incident happened on Friday morning, after which the Nepalese locals in Darchula district alleged that the 33-year-old man, Jaya Singh Dhami, fell into the river after a personnel of India’s Seema Sashastra Bal (SSB) cut off the iron wire tied to a tree on the India’s side. The SSB denied the charge.
Nepalese citizens held a demonstration in Darchula, 470 kms from Dehradun, on Saturday, raising slogans against India and SSB which mans the India-Nepal border, HT has learnt.
“The allegations that our personnel cut off the wire at our end is completely false. No man on my side was involved in the incident,” said Mahendra Pratap, commandant, SSB, Dharchula in Pithoragarh.
“Nepalese citizens were illegally crossing the river to come to our side on that day by tying the iron wire to trees on both sides. On Friday, coincidentally our patrolling team went to the spot near our Pangla post while three Nepalese men, including the deceased, were crossing over. “After seeing us, two of them, who had already crossed into Indian side, tried to hastily remove the wire tied to a tree in our side. After that the man fell into the river and drowned,” Pratap said, refuting the allegation of the Nepalese people that an SSB personnel snapped the wire.
The SSB commandant said that following the uproar in Nepal over the incident, he along with superintendent of Nepal’s Armed Police Force (APF) went to the spot for inspection. APF is the Nepalese counterpart of SSB.
“No wire was found there but one end was tied to a poll in Nepal side. During the joint inspection of the spot, I told the APF officer that no SSB personnel was involved in the incident. I asked him to provide us with any video or photographic evidence so that we can take action against the accused personnel, if any. But nothing has been provided to us,” said Pratap.
Meanwhile, the Nepalese ministry of home affairs issued a statement on Saturday over the incident, urging “all sides to exercise caution.” HT has a copy of the statement.
“A team comprising members of district administration, Nepal police, Armed Police Force and National Intelligence Department has gone to the incident site to gather details. The team would submit a report to the government,” the statement said.
HT tried to get response of Darchula district top officials in Nepal on the incident, but they didn’t answer the calls.