Alert after Mumbai blasts

Motihari, July 15: Alert has been sounded along the India-Nepal border and security forces have been directed to keep a continuous vigil to foil any bid by terrorists in wake of the recent Mumbai blasts.

Being one of the sensitive bordering districts in the state and linked to other sensitive districts like Sheohar and Sitamarhi, East Champaran has already been identified as an important conduit for anti-national and insurgent activities in the country.

Both superintendents of police (SPs) of Motihari and Bettiah, Ganesh Kumar and Nishant Kumar Tewari, have put all police stations in the districts on alert.

Sources said, several places in the districts have been identified as hideouts for terrorists over the past few years and still continue to be a safe zone for subversive activities.

Nearly a year after the killing of Gujarat home minister Haren Pandeya, when the murderer’s photograph was published in newspapers after his arrest in 2004, it was confirmed that the killer used to visit Motihari.

An accused in the 1993 Mumbai blast, popularly known as “Mechanic Chacha” was arrested from the India-Nepal border near Raxaul in 2001-02. Later, he was flown to Patna secretly and taken to J&K under tight security for army intelligence interrogation.

Awadhesh Tyagi, a criminal and said to be a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, who was assigned to kill Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka, reportedly used to get shelter in Motihari, Raxaul and the bordering Birganj town in Nepal, was arrested near Raxaul in 2003.

Meanwhile, deputy inspector-general of police, Champaran range, Pankaj Darad told The Telegraph: “Soon after the incident and directions received from the state director-general of police, I have alerted the SPs of Bettiah, Motihari and Bagaha for additional deployment of forces at vulnerable points.”

“They have been directed for beefing up intelligence networks in their respective districts,” added the DIG.