Rajendra Nath

With the festive season prompting the return of a large number of migrant workers flush with cash, cases of robbery and muggings have escalated in India and along the Nepal-India border.

Two Nepali migrant workers returning home from India were looted at Sajjanpur on Wednesday. Khim Bahadur Oli and Kamal Oli, both from Banke, were robbed of IRS 19,000 and three mobile phone sets after being fed drinks laced with sedatives while travelling on a bus, according to Mahendra Rana, sub-inspector at the border police post at Jamunaha.

Similarly, six Nepalis returning home were looted on a passenger bus in India a few days ago, police said. They were robbed of around Rs 150,000. The plight of these migrant workers dœs not end with the robbery. Often, they face further extortion from the Indian police, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and officials at customs offices along the border, according to migrant workers.

“Authorities concerned asked me for Rs 200, but I only gave Rs 10,” said Purna Bahadur Buda of Rolpa, who was returning from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India, on Wednesday. Arjun Tharu, a migrant worker from Bardiya, said Nepali migrant workers were being troubled at all points by authorities bent on extorting money. Even rickshaw pullers charged them higher fares, the workers said.

“Indian routes and border checkpoints are not safe,” said Sandip Singh from Mahendranagar. Although Nepali police are deployed in civvies along the border, cases of extortion continue unabated, the workers added. Rana claimed that while the number of such incidents had gone down from last year, extortion and robbery are yet to be checked completely.

 Published On: 18 October 2012 | The Kathmandu Post