Suspected terrorist held in Nepal

KATHMANDU - An armed Indian, suspected of being involved in terrorist activities, has been arrested in Nepal.

Ibrahim Musalman, a resident of Bahraich in India’s Uttar Pradesh state across Nepal’s border, was arrested in Kapilavastu along the border after being found in possession of a fake Nepali passport.

The fake passport indicates he was given a visa to Pakistan.

Musalman was also carrying a pistol when he was arrested.

Nepal’s police remain tightlipped about the exact date of arrest, which occurred about a month ago.

The news came out after he was transferred to Nepal’s Palpa Jail and the state media reported the arrest Sunday.

Kapilavastu, adjoining India, is one of the most violent districts in the Terai with a growing crime incidence.

It is also the same district from where Vicky Maniyar, an Indian, obtained a fake Nepali passport.

Maniyar was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police last year on the charge of being an ISI operative who along with his father Majid ran a fake Indian currency racket through Nepal.

Indian don Babloo Srivastav, currently doing time in an Indian prison and said to have international underworld links, had also obtained a fake Nepali citizenship certificate from Kapilavastu.

Police superintendent Sharad Chand told IANS that legal proceedings had been started to cancel Musalman’s Nepali citizenship.

He obtained it in 2006 from a Nepali government team that had been sent to the district to issue citizenship certificates.

The nearly 1,800-km open border between India and Nepal remains a growing security concern for the Indian authorities.

Various terrorism operations targeting Indian cities have been found to have a Nepal link with the perpetrators or planners sneaking into India through Nepal.

Since Nepalis do not need a visa to visit or reside in India, the Indian government is alarmed by the mushrooming fake Nepali passport racket.

Recently, police busted a network involving Bangladeshis who were forging Nepali passports.