“They opened my bag and started haggling saying the clothes that I brought for my family were more than allowed,” Raghu Saud, who was returning home from India for Dashain and Tihar festivals told Republica. [break]
Keshar Bhul, of Bogtana VDC, was forced to cough up IRs 2,000 for similar reasons. He lamented that he spent half his money paying Indian cops at different points from the railway station to the customs office.
People of the far-western region are customarily nagged and fleeced by Indian border cops and custom staffers when people return home from India to celebrate Dashain and Tihar festivals. They are also looted by others after getting off at the railway platform and on the way to the customs point.
Jitendra Shah, president of FNCCI Doti, said that officials of Special Security Bureau (SSB) at the customs point have even started to rob Nepali nationals. “This is because the officials are used to fleecing Nepali nationals,” he added.
Meanwhile, Republica correspondent Dil Bahadur Chatyal reported from the Indian city of Gouriphanta that SSB cops were blatantly robbing Nepali workers on their way home.
“I only had an old bag. Yet Indian cops stopped me and demanded IRs 400,” said Nabin Rana, of Choumala in Kailali district, who was returning from New Delhi. Most of Nepali workers are found to be unaware of the law that prohibits possession of Indian bank notes in the denomination of 500 and 1, 000.
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