Indo-Nepal border to be sealed during UP, Uttarakhand polls

Kathmandu (Nepal):  The Indo-Nepal border points in Nepal’s Kanchanpur district will remain closed due to the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to avert any untoward incident during the polls, police said today.

The second phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly poll will be held on February 15. The assembly polls in Uttarakhand are also scheduled on the same day.

The western points Gaddachauki and Bhramadev have been closed since last evening. The Dodhara Chandani and Belauri points will also be sealed.

Indo-Nepal checkpoints in Beldandi and Tribhuvan Basti will remain closed from tomorrow evening and they will reopen after 17:00 pm on the election day, Kanchanpur’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Nainsingh Karki said.

The decision to seal the border points was taken with a view to averting any untoward incident during the election period.

India shares a porous border with Nepal. Closing border points is a common practice during elections to prevent movement of anti-social elements.