Shimla, Sept. 29: Himachal Pradesh has been put on high alert following a home ministry directive to keep a lookout for Maoists, who are said to be active in neighbouring Uttaranchal.

?A note had been received from the home ministry regarding Maoist movement from Nepal into Uttaranchal. Police have been asked to keep extra vigil on the borders to prevent Maoists from entering the state. The activities of suspected people are being watched closely,? Himachal chief secretary Kanwar Shamsher Singh said.

The state government is especially worried over the list of five Nepalese organisations that Uttaranchal police said are active in Himachal.

Sources in the state police department, handed the list by its Uttaranchal counterpart, said these organisations are indirectly funding Maoist activities in Nepal.

The list followed revelations by five Maoists arrested by Uttaranchal police from a camp in Haldwani. The five, the sources said, were previously labourers in Gumma and Rohru areas of Shimla district.

The sources added that Uttaranchal police have urged Himachal to track the funding sources of the listed organisations and provide details of all other Nepalese groups that are allegedly mobilising funds for Maoists. Intelligence reports say splinter groups of banned Nepalese organisations are active in Himachal in the guise of doing social work.

The police are keeping an eye on Nepalese labourers in Himachal, estimated to be around 15,000, many of whom regularly visit their homeland. Most are employed in Shimla, Solan, Kullu and Kinnaur districts and work without any registration or police verification.

?We have initiated a drive to verify the credentials of Nepalese labourers in the state,? CID inspector-general I.D. Bhandari said.

The Mainstream All India Nepalese Unity Society in a press release urged the state not to harass the labourers in the guise of police verification. ?We are a peace-loving people who have come in search of a calling,? society adviser Deepak Pandey said.

The drive has come in the wake of a Nepal government caution to the Centre that 16 Maoists who recently escaped from a jail in Kanchanpur district may take refuge in Uttaranchal or Himachal. Kinnaur and Shimla districts could be a potential safe haven because of their difficult terrain.