Nepal beefs up security in border areas ahead of poll

With the objective of conducting peaceful and fair elections, Nepal has beefed up security along the borders with India.As there is less than a week left for the parliamentary and provincial elections slated for December 7, security forces have remained highly alert in various parts of the border district Dang. A joint security team of Nepal and India have started monitoring the activities in the border areas. As per the analysis of the security personnel, movement of arms and ammunition in border has been seen as a major challenge.A special committee of the Nepali and Indian security forces was formed before the first phase of elections to ensure security in the border areas. The same committee will be working in the second phase of election as well. There are altogether 31 customs points in Dang adjoining the Indian border. “These customs points are considered highly sensitive especially during elections,” Armed Police Force (APF) official Ishwor D C, chief of Koilabas barracks of the paramilitary force, said, adding, “We are making every possible effort to avoid any kind of untoward incident which may disrupt the polls.” He informed that the security personnel are adopting special strategies to control criminal activities in the border areas. People travelling through the border will have to go through strict checking until the elections are over. The APF is running a search operation in each customs point. “We have deployed our security personnel in each customs point and are hopeful that the elections will be peaceful,” he said.Security forces are also working round the clock to curb criminal activities in the border areas. The Dang district shares 83km of border with India and most of the areas are not accessible by road. Except for Koilabas, no other border point in Dang has road access. This has also been a major threat to security in the area.As in the past elections, borders will be sealed from December 4 and will be opened only after elections.The ongoing election campaign has been rocked by over a hundred small and large explosions countrywide. A blast near the venue of a public meeting being addressed by Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Saturday became the latest terrorist incident.Bombs have earlier gone off close to campaign meetings of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Dang district of western Nepal, and that of K P Oli, the prime ministerial candidate of the Left Alliance, in the capital Kathmandu, sending waves of fear and panic sweeping across the country.The first phase of polling to elect a federal and seven provincial assemblies under the 2015 constitution took place on November 26. A turnout of 65% was recorded as votes were cast for 37 parliamentary and 74 provincial legislature seats. The second, and final, round of voting is scheduled for December 7.Security personnel guard at a polling station in Nuwakot, 74km from Kathmandu.