M A I N   N E W S

Editor arrested 

Kathmandu, June 6
The Kathmandu police this afternoon arrested a journalist and the publishers of a popular Nepali-language daily newspaper.

The arrests came in the aftermath of the massacre of most of the Royal family at the palace last Friday. The Kathmandu district police arrested Yuba Raj Ghimere, Editor of the largest selling Kantipur paper, and Managing Director Kailash Sirghiya and Director Binod Gyawali of the Kantipur Publications.

According to a spokesman for the publications, they were charged with “crimes against the Nepalese throne”. DPA

Tight security on border with Nepal

New Delhi, June 6
India has put its paramilitary forces on high alert along its winding border with Nepal following the June 1 massacre of King Birendra and his family and the resultant violent street protests, officials said today.

With political instability in Nepal being perceived as a security threat to India, Indian officials said the paramilitary forces were on full alert along the 1,690 km border with its northeastern neighbour.

“We are keeping a close watch over the situation, especially along the borders which could be vulnerable at this time,” said an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Cross-border traffic was closed in parts of Siliguri (West Bengal), Purnea (Bihar) and UP’s Terai region in UP due to the crisis in the Himalayan Kingdom. There are around 20 exit points along the India-Nepal border, according to officials.

The situation is understood to have figured in a discussion between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani yesterday.

The Nepal situation could well be exploited by subversive forces to destabilise the subcontinent, the Indian government fears. The police had been put on high alert along the border in West Bengal’s Darjeeling area. The movement of vehicles was monitored very closely.

Home Ministry officials said Pakistan’s ISI had set up “logistical facilities” in Nepal to assist anti-India elements trying to infiltrate into India way back in 1990. Many smuggling gangs and crime syndicates were also operating from Nepal, while underworld dons smuggled gold, drugs, fake currency and arms and explosives. IANS

India reacted at ‘appropriate’ time

New Delhi, June 6
Rejecting criticism of making “hasty” statements on Nepal developments, India today said it had reacted at an “appropriate time and in an appropriate manner” keeping in view the traditional ties between the two countries.

“India has reacted at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner given the close, historical ties we have with Nepal,” an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters here.

He was asked about former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar criticising Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who said he did not subscribe to any conspiracy theory behind the royal killings in Nepal.

When people in that country were out on the streets following the gruesome massacre, statements were being made out of turn here, Mr Shekhar said. PTI