Gulab Bohara, 32, Kalu Sarki, 35, and Dil Bahadur Buda, 42, of Bhimdatta Municipality-9 were arrested in Tanakpur Monday night while returning home. They had 40 sets of metallic pipes with them but Indian police presenting them at a press conference in Tanakpur the next day said the three were arrested with 12-bore gun, pistol and khukuri. [break]
They allegedly made Bohara hold a gun, Buda a pistol and Sarki a khukuri and took their photographs. They were not allowed to speak during the press conference. Coverage of the arrests in the Indian media has strained relations between Uttaranchal Police and Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) in India.
“SSB men have come to us saying that the false news of arrests has put them in an awkward position,” a Nepali policeman at Brahmadev police post said. “The Indian police is wrongly projecting the arrests that were actually made in Tanakpur market as being made near Brahmadev bridge in the barrage area,” he added.
Indian Police had claimed that Sarki was wanted by Nepal Police on criminal charges but Nepal Police denied it. “There has been no complaint against the three,” Superintendent of Kanchanpur Police Pawan Prasad Kharel said. “We have heard that they had pipes only but we are not allowed to go to India for investigation,” Kharel added. Sources claim that the arrests were fabricated by the Indian Police for promotion and favorable transfers.
The arrests have shocked the families and locals of Bhimdatta Municipality-9, Khalla alike. “They are simpletons working hard in India. They would work in India and return home to their families,” said 60-year-old Janak Ram Lawad, a neighbor.
Bohara´s wife Kamala didn´t know of his arrest for two days and was waiting for him. She only heard of his fate when a shopkeeper told her the news while going to Tanakpur for shopping. “I couldn´t believe that he was arrested. He had phoned telling that he was coming with pipes to make cots and hairs,” she said.
“The Indian police have framed them on false allegations,” claimed Sarki´s wife Jamuna. She said the trio had traveled together from Delhi being from the same village.
Bohara is a Nepal Police ex-serviceman. He was fired 18 months ago for overstaying his leave. Buda and Sarki also come from poor family and have only half bigha of public land.
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