Uttar Pradesh Police have sounded an alert in seven districts of the state, along the porous India-Nepal border, following violence in the Himalayan nation’s Banka district bordering the state’s Bahraich district.

Prashant Kumar, special DG (law and order), said: “Joint patrolling by the Uttar Pradesh Police and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the India-Nepal border, has been intensified across Bahraich and other six districts sharing borders with Nepal. The movement across the border has been restricted to ensure violence does not spread within Indian territory.”

He said the state police was maintaining close coordination with the SSB and other central agencies to ensure peace in the Indian territory.

Uttar Pradesh’s five districts in the eastern region — Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddartha Nagar, Maharajganj — and two districts of the western region, Pilibhit and Lakhimpur Kheri, share a 599-km border with Nepal.

SP (Bahraich) Prashant Verma said law and order problem started in Banka district on Tuesday morning after a communal clash during Sadhbhawna rally.

Initial reports from Nepal stated that stone pelting on the rally led to trouble.

“We are keeping a close watch on the situation across the border and all five police outposts on the Nepal border in Bahraich have been asked to remain extra alert and intensify vigil,” he added.

On Wednesday, there were long queue of trucks at the Rupaidiha border but now the vehicles had been diverted towards other borders to enter Nepal.

“There was panic for some time on Tuesday as over one lakh people from India and Nepal cross over to their countries daily from the Rupaidiha border. Several Nepal nationals were stranded in India while many Indians were stranded in Nepal. People from both sides were allowed to cross over after confirmation of their identities,” said another police official.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)