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Anyone looking at Pakistan with suspicion will find the job easy
in Kathmandu. For, Nepal, thanks to a liberal immigration policy
and a porous border with India, is serving not only as a transit
for those on the run but also as a haven for Pak-sponsored
terrorist activity.
Indian Intelligence reports say that Dawood Ibrahim last came
here in August; members of the LTTE use Nepal as a regular route
and rebels of the NSCN (I/M) often travel on Nepalese passports.
After the Nepal police found 30 kg RDX in diplomatic bags bound
for the Pakistan Embassy early last year, Islamabad's diplomatic
contingent is the only one whose official baggage is searched at
the Tribhuvan airport.
The size of the Pakistan Embassy is also a subject for
speculation in Indian official circles in Kathmandu. While India
has a diplomatic staff of 75, Pakistan has 30, higher that any
other SAARC country. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the
Maldives have less than 15 officials each.
The embassy's size, Indian officials claim, is one sign of how
Pakistan is increasingly making its presence felt in the country.
Intelligence officials say that across the 1,850-km-long Indo-
Nepal border that runs along West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar, there has been heavy traffic of explosives and militants,
on way to Jammu and Kashmir, even to the North-East. One reason
is that the border in J&K and Punjab has over the past five years
become less "porous". In contrast, the Nepal border is open and
immigration rules are lax.
An example is the case of Mohammed Dosa, wanted in connection
with the Mumbai blasts. Dosa, who is said to be in Dubai now, has
a Nepalese passport issued by Ms Majesty's Government. New Delhi
has taken up the matter with Kathmandu but the passport is yet to
be revoked.
Officials in Kathmandu attribute this to the ludicrously simple
procedure to get a Nepalese passport. AN you need is a
citizenship certificate issued by any of the 75 Chief District
Officers. The going "price" for a forged one: Rs 10,000 Nepali
rupees and a ten-day stay which is required to get the
certificate.
More than seven years ago, the Indian Intelligence Bureau had
prepared a status report on ISI activity in Nepal. This was
discussed at a Cabinet meeting and the matter taken up with
Kathmandu. Nepal proposed a radical rework of the 1950 treaty and
a system of visas. Delhi turned it down.
Today both countries point fingers at each other. While Nepal
says India's only interested in scoring "propaganda points",
Indian officials attribute Nepal's lax immigration laws to the
ease with which militants use this country.
Ambassador K.V. Rajan says: "It is a matter of grave concern and
we need to work out a framework in order to contain this."
Nepal Home Office officials insist that every time India has
brought a case to their notice, they have taken action. Former
Home Secretary K. Padmanabhaiah admits that Nepal has always
cooperated on a case by case basis. This despite the fact that
there is an atmosphere of mistrust.
There have been quite a few cases of Indian security authorities
showing little respect for Nepal's territorial sovereignty while
sending teams into the country to arrest wanted men. The Nepal
Government says it's hard put to justify this to the locals.
While Nepal says it's making a "valiant attempt" to check border
movement, Indian border posts are a study in contrasts. Absence
of guards, few telephones, no checking equipment and in some
cases not even the bare furniture are common. This is the crux of
the Kathmandu connection since militants find it easy to slip
through.
Rajan says the movement of explosives and ISI activity is a
serious concern and admits that "perhaps it has not got the
attention it deserves from the Indian security establishment".
Take the case of the Himalayan Bank. It asked the State Bank of
India thrice to enter in a partnership. After it was turned down,
it joined hands with Pakistan's Habib Bank. Now Indian officials
in Kathmandu suspect that this bank is being used to park ISI
funds. India asked the bank for details of seven "suspect
accounts". Says Birender Kumar, a senior Nepal Government
official in the Home department: "We ensured that the Habib Bank
has only 20 per cent stake and when the Indian officials asked
for some account details we provided them. But why does India
get upset now? We offered the partnership to them first."
Senior Pakistan diplomatic officials here say that this is
"typical Indian propaganda".
Says a senior official on the condition of anonymity: "They see
the ISI under virtually every bed".
HAVEN OF TERRORISM
Militant strikes using Kathmandu as a base in the past one year
JANUARY 1997: A series of bomb blasts allege planned for Republic
Day this year in Delhi and Srinagar by members of the Jammu and
Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) including Fayaz Ahmed Shah and four
others. They were arrested in Lazimpet on January 18 and based on
their interrogation the police seized another 20 kg of RDX from
Gongabu bus terminal. Also recovered was a fax sent from
Islamabad on how to manufacture an explosive device.
Interrogation reports say the explosives were brought in through
diplomatic pouches of the Pakistan embassy.
AUGUST 1997: Vikram Wahi, an accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder
case, came to Mumbai via Nepal and returned to Kathmandu after
the killing. A day before his body was found on the Indo-Nepal
border, the Nepal police had raided a hotel where he was believed
to be staying. Wahi's torso was found on the Uttar Pradesh side
of the border while the head was on the Nepal side.
AUGUST 1997: Bhupinder Singh Bhuda of the Khalistan Commando
Force (Panjwar group) was picked up in Nepal and the local police
facilitated his arrest in India. He was staying in a local hotel
and the police traced several calls he made through the hotel
switchboard to Islamabad.
October 1997: Arrests of six Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front
(JKIF) militants who were on their way to Pakistan through the
biweekly flight to Karachi. They were travelling on fake
documents issued by a travel agent based in the Pakistan embassy
here. In one case an official of the embassy had issued a letter
which stated that "Mohammed Shafi Khan is a Pakistan citizen who
has lost his passport and he should be allowed to return". Nepal
police confirms the incident and India and Nepal took up the
matter with Pakistan. So far there has been no response.
MAY 1996. In the case of the Lajpat Nagar bomb blasts on May 21,
1996, where 25 people died four members of the JKIF including
Billal Baig and Javed Kirwal were arrested in Kathmandu barely a
week later. They were then handed over to Delhi Police. 20 kg of
RDX was recovered from them. Mirza Dilshad Baig is the Minister
of Housing and Physical Training in Nepal. Records show that
there are eight criminal cases registered against him in Gonda
and Gorakhpur police stations in Uttar Pradesh for alleged gun
running and gold smuggling.
According to records, seven AK-47s were recovered form his
vehicle, while he was going to Mahendranagar in UP from
Krishnanagar in Nepal. Police records say his associates in India
include several politicians including a minister in the Kalyan
Singh Government and a Samajwadi Party MLA.
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