Republic Day: Drone cameras, dog squads help boost security along Nepal border in Maharajganj
Maharajganj (PTI): Ahead of the Republic Day, the Sashastra Seema Bal and police have stepped up vigil along the India-Nepal border in the Maharajganj district with several measures, including deployment of dog squads, a police official said Saturday.
Maharajganj SP Somendra Meena said Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has installed closed-circuit and drone cameras on all routes leading to Nepal.
"To prevent the possible movement of terrorists in the area, security agencies have been asked to ascertain the identity of people before allowing them to cross over through the border. In an effort to strengthen the security arrangements at the porous India-Nepal border and stop infiltration of anti-national elements, the SSB has installed closed-circuit cameras and drone cameras on each and every route leading to Nepal," Meena told PTI.
These cameras have been put at SSB posts, as well as on the main roads, he said.
He added that metal detectors have been installed at Sonauli and Thuthibari outposts on the India-Nepal border.
The SP said that dog squads trained in detecting narcotics and arms have been deployed to check smuggling across the border. "After the deployment of the dog squad, there would be a lot of relief in checking the suspected people in the bordering area," he said.
According to Meena, assistance from Nepalese security agencies is also being taken so that no anti-national element can infiltrate.
"SSB and police are investigating suspicious people in congested areas and at dhabas alongside the border. Along with this, a strict vigil is being kept on the people and the vehicles passing through Sonauli on the India-Nepal border with the help of the dog squad," he said.
UP's Maharajganj district shares an 84-km open border with Nepal.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
