India to set up two military posts along border adjoining Nepal

December 25, 2002
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Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes disclosed Monday that India was going to set up two new military posts in the northern part of Bihar to check anti-Indian forces along the Indo-Nepal border, AFP reported from Patna.

“The threat of subversive activities by anti-India militants has increased along the Indo-Nepal borders necessitating army presence in the border areas,” Fernandes said. “Two military stations will be established in northern part of the state adjoining the Nepal border to check anti-India activities along the border with Nepal,” the minister said.

Nepal, particularly its southwestern area bordering India, is in the throes of an increasingly violent insurgency by Maoists, which has left more than 7,300 people dead since 1996. Officials have alleged links between Nepal’s Maoists and far-leftist outfits active in Bihar.

The Maoist Communist Centre was blamed for an ambush on Friday in Bihar’s neighbouring state of Jharkahnd that killed 18 policemen and injured 25. An Indian Railways official said the group was also behind a derailment of a train in the south of the country on Saturday that left 20 people dead and 90 injured.

Bihar authorities have arrested eight Nepali Maoists in the past four months, half of whom were handed over to Nepal police, according to Neelami Kumar, the state inspector general of police for operations.