Illegally exported chicks held, destroyed in Rautahat

RAUTAHAT: Police said they have impounded as many as 1,200 chicks near Kopwa Pipariya, Rautahat on Monday morning following repeated complaints of illegal imports of chicks from India.

A team led by Police Inspector Uday Man Dwivedi successfully got hold of the chicks imported to Nepal from Rampurkhap, Naraktiya of India near the border, Rautahat-based District Police Office said.

The importers who were riding bicycles ran as soon as they saw the police team. All 1,200 of the fowls in custody have been destroyed at the presence of local leaders, SP Sanu Babu Thapaliya informed.

The open border is often misused to import banned chicks into the country. Police claimed that they were able to seize the fowls thanks to tightened border security measures they took after reports of illegal import, with involvement of security personnel also, increased in the district.

According to a source, not only chickens, but sugar, cooking oil and textiles along with other daily consumables are imported from India. Likewise, gravels, sand, betel nuts, foreign cosmetic products are smuggled to India.

A local of Auraiya, Shambhu Gupta accused that the smuggling is done freely by deceiving the Indian Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

DSP Pramod Bharati of SSB, however, claimed that no any product has been imported to India from the border.

Though he agreed that chicks were smuggled to Nepal, the official declined involvement of SSB in the activity.