National
Locals fear for their safety after Khursid murder
Locals near the Nepal-India border area in Sunsari have been living in constant fear after the murder of Maulana Khursid Ansari at Bhutaha Bazaar in Harinagar Rural Municipality-2.Deo Narayan Sah
Locals near the Nepal-India border area in Sunsari have been living in constant fear after the murder of Maulana Khursid Ansari at Bhutaha Bazaar in Harinagar Rural Municipality-2.
Locals complain that the police administration failed to apprehend the gunmen even as the Armed Police Force personnel are stationed at Bhutaha and Ghuski border points. Ansari, chairman of a local school management committee, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Bhutaha. Four motorcycle-borne gunmen shot dead Ansari in the town on Thursday before fleeing to India. Police chased the gunmen, but failed to arrest them. While fleeing the scene, they also shot at police Constable Shiva Paudel who had tried to stop them at Ghuski Bazaar.
Police are yet found any lead. This has further stoked fear among Bhutaha residents. Bhutaha Bazaar is around 10km north of the Nepal-India border. Mohammad Mehadin of Ghuski in Harinagar-6 said perpetrators are easily fleeing to India due to porous border. “Nepali security personnel are being mute spectators,” claimed Mehadin, adding that 3-4 such incidents occur in Ghuski each year.
Only few security personnel are deployed in Bhutaha and Ghuski check posts. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Nepal Police Kedar Rijal, chief of Province 1 Police, said that they were planning to add more security units in the border areas. “We are investigating security lapses in this incident,” said DIG Rijal.
Another APF Super-intendent Suresh Kumar Shrestha, chief of the force’s Battalion in Sunsari, claimed that the perpetrators fled the scene in a planned way. “We have no other alternative but to manage the open border. There’s an APF Border Out Post over the distance of 16-17 km in the Nepal-India border,” said SP Shrestha.
The final rites of Ansari was performed in Sunsari only after the government representatives assured the deceased family that he would be declared a martyr, they would be provided with Rs1 million as compensation and book the culprits at the earliest. Ansari’s post mortem was conducted at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences on Friday night.