MOTIHARI, BIHAR, Sept 1: Arrested Indian Mujahideen operative Yasin Bhatkal and his associate used to take advantage of the unhindered passage on the Indo-Nepal border, 110 km of which lay in Bihar.
Interrogation of Bhatkal and his associate, Asadulla Akhtar alias Haddi, after their arrest from Nahar Chowk in Raxual sub-division of East Champaran district on Thursday revealed that they frequently travelled between the two countries without facing any problem.
Local people said that one has to spent as little as Rs 35 to reach Birganj in Nepal from Raxual in Bihar, a four- kilometre distance, by cycle-rickshaw.
Three-wheelers standing in queue on either side of the border charged Rs 12 for each passenger for the same distance.
No passport or any travel document were required for passage between the two countries.
Though the District Level Coordination Committee meeting was scheduled every three months, it mainly deliberated on issues concerning encroachment and border pillars.
Reports said that many of the pillars on the border were damaged.
Vikram Singh Thakur, Commander of Sahastra Seema Bal, 13 battalion, entrusted with the security of the border for 110 km from Ghorasahan to Sikta in contiguous West Champaran district, told “free movement of people through the open border is indeed creating a problem.”
Foodgrains, clothes and items of daily need were transported to either side of the border.
Many citizens of Raxual and Motihari owned shops and business establishment in Birganj.
Birganj was a market for foreign readymade jeans and trousers, when they hit the market in the ’80s and ’90s drawing a large number of customers from Bihar and elsewhere in India.
The unhindered passage also led to marriage among those living on the border of the two countries.
Acharya Shatrughan Pandey, a resident of Motihari, said he performed 12 to 15 marriages on either side of the border in a month during a season.
Sunil Kumar Upadhyay, another priest, said he participated in a large of marriages of people from India and Nepal.
Bachha Mishra, a social worker of the district, said Gopal Mandali, Marwari Dharamshala and Kalwarsthan in Birganj were favourite places for marriage for people from the two sides of the border.
The newly weds subsequently settled on either side of the border without requiring any document.
Mishra claimed that many people living in the border areas had dual citizenship after marriage. (PTI)
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