Chitwan, June 30

As many as nine Indian nationals were arrested from Chitwan National Park in the last week for their suspicious activities.

CNP, however, has not made the details of the arrestees public.

CNP chief conservation officer Bed Kumar Dhakal said that seven Indian nationals were held from western sector SailiMaili while two were nabbed from eastern sector Sunachuri. Dhakal said that arrestees from SailiMaili said that they had entered the CNP after they lost track of the route. Two were nabbed from Sunachuri while they were fishing. “CNP has launched an investigation into the case finding their activities suspicious,” he added.

Saili Maili is six hours’ walk from Nepal-India border point of Balmiki. Those arrested from Saili Maili are from Balmiki Nagar of India.

Those arrested at eastern sector were fishing when they were caught. Investigation on their case is also on, according to a CNP source.

Following the arrest of Indian nationals, CNP has beefed up security at the park. A sweep operation has started at many places of CNP. Though nothing was recovered from the possession of the arrestees, a special security alert has been put in place to avoid any untoward incident.

Nepal Army’s Batuk Dal Gan Ganapati Samundra Thapa said they had used elephants and walked on their feet to carry out sweep operation around CNP. Assistant conservation officer and information at CNP Nurendra Aryal said security had been tightened this summer due to security challenge.

One-horned rhino was killed by poachers on April 5, 2017 for the last time at CNP. Since then, poachers have not killed any wildlife at CNP.