According to Lila Prasad Khatiwada, a resident of Dhaijan, Jhapa, many groups of Indian youths are found waylaying Nepali shoppers and businessmen.[break]
“Each of these groups demands as much as IRs 500. They harass us when we refuse to pay them.” Khatiwada said one his neighbors was manhandled by Indian youths in Naxalbari of West Bengal when he refused to pay them.
It is not only the local youths who trouble Nepali shoppers. SSB soldiers, according to Rajendra Ghimire, chairman of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Jhapa, have also been extorting Nepali shoppers and businessmen. “They do not allow us to bring anything to Nepal without paying them,” says Ghimire.
Even as Nepali people continue to be harassed by Indian security personnel and youths, the administration is unmindful of their sufferings. “We have just heard rumors about it,” says Kakadbhitta police Chief Chandra Rajbanshi. “No one has officially lodged any complaints.”
A few days ago, local businessmen had informed Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Surendra Bahadur Shah about their sufferings. However, DIG Shah said, “We must endure such troubles so long as we do not become self-dependent.”
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