KHANCHANPUR:Number of bike riders is on the rise in Kanchanpur recently. The ones, stolen in India and smuggled to Nepal at a price of a bicycle outnumber the others through showrooms in Nepal. The increasing trends of buying stolen bikes have shrunk business of bike showrooms, the businessperson lamented.

Interestingly, people living in rural areas, who hardly can own bikes, can be seen riding stolen bikes, they said. "Some around more than 3,000 smuggled bikes are plying in the streets,” the police said.

The police further said smugglers, taking advantage of the porous border, bring in bikes from Belauri, Purnbash, Dodhara, Chadani and Bhramadev areas of India to Nepal.

They are then given fake registration numbers to operate on roads in Nepal. Though the police have launched a massive operation off and on but the trend does not seem to be abating.