Motihari, Sept. 9: East Champaran and West Champaran districts have been kept under special surveillance after Wednesday’s blast near Delhi High Court gate, which left at least 13 persons dead and more than 80 injured.

In the wake of the second blast in the national capital since May this year and the subsequent alert sounded across the country, several places in the district, especially those along the India-Nepal border, have been put under extra surveillance.

These areas have been under threat because of its past record of being associated with subversive and anti-national elements.

According to the deputy inspector-general of police (DIG), Champaran range, Pankaj Darad, the security forces have been directed to keep continuous vigil over the activities of suspected elements.

“They have also been asked to keep a watch on the movement of vehicles, especially in the bordering areas under the two Champaran districts in order to foil any evil design by these subversive elements,” he said.

Champaran is among the most sensitive bordering districts in the state, which also shares its border with districts like Sitamarhi and Sheohar. As a result, it has been identified as an important channel for anti-national elements in the country.

The DIG accepted that East Champaran has been among the highly sensitive bordering districts in Bihar.

“Keeping in view the geographical location of the district, the police both from state as well as the central forces have been asked to be on maximum alert,” he told The Telegraph.

After the recent Mumbai serial blasts, which rocked the country on July 13, a suspect from Bihar’s East Champaran district was held in Nepal.

The said suspect, Sanaullah Nadvi, a resident of Kundwa Chainpur village under Dhaka police station area of East Champaran, was nabbed from Baluatarh, a posh area in Kathmandu, and was subsequently handed over to the top investigating agency of Nepal for interrogation.

Nadvi is said to be allegedly involved in the Mumbai blasts. The fact came to light after it was found that he had made phone calls to some of the blast suspects in Mumbai from Kathmandu soon after the blasts. In a joint operation, the sleuths from the two countries also traced telephone calls from his number to other blast suspects later.

During investigations, Nadvi accepted that he had made the telephone calls to the blast suspects in Mumbai, sources told The Telegraph.

According to sources in the district a number of places have remained safe hideouts for the subversive elements. These places have been a safe haven for the anti-national outfits for the past several years, from where they have freely carried out their activities.

The murderer of former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya (2002-03), along with an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts, popularly known as Mechanic Chacha and a criminal Awadhesh Tyagi, said to be a close associate of D Company who was assigned to kill Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka.com, were among the other accused, who indulged in anti-national activities. All these people have taken shelter in different pockets of the district between 2003 and 2004.