Bangalore police seek legal muscle to pursue suspects in Nepal

Even as the city witnesses rising instances of crimes committed by Nepali nationals, the city police are seeking an amendment to the laws.

The amendment, the police felt, would help them arrest accused persons who had fled to Nepal.
Under the existing laws, Indian police were not allowed to pursue criminals to Nepal. A series of robberies recently committed in the city have been traced to Nepali nationals.

Taking cognisance of the problem, the city police commissioner has been taking necessary measures to deal with it.

“There is little difference between a Nepali and an Indian. There are Nepali citizens holding government jobs in India. However, when a crime is committed, we can go all out to secure the Indian citizen behind it, but our officers find it difficult to arrest a Nepali accused. If they get across the border after committing a crime, even recovering stolen property from them is hard. More and more people seem to be acting with impunity as they have this kind of immunity,” commissioner Shankar M Bidari said. 

Meanwhile, the city police issued a red corner notice against Nepali offenders hiding in their country.

Many Nepali nationals have been employed by city-based private security agencies. Bidari said that even before he writes to the Centre or the state government, he would discuss the matter with Nepali leaders.

Members of the Nepali association in Bangalore have already made a commitment to help the police arrest any accused, and set themselves a deadline of September 2010.