Basti (Uttar Pradesh): Two suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists have entered Uttar Pradesh, following which a high alert has been sounded along the India-Nepal border in Maharajganj, Kushinagar and Siddharth Nagar districts, a top police official said Sunday.
“It has come to the fore that two wanted terrorists Abdul Samad and Iliyas can escape to Nepal from Uttar Pradesh,” IG (Basti range) Ashutosh Kumar told reporters. The alert was sounded after the intelligence input was received, he said.
The IG said photographs of the two have been widely circulated so that they could be identified easily. The officer however, pointed out that he was not aware which outfit they were affiliated to.
Previously, they were spotted in West Bengals’ hill town of Siliguri and are suspected to be associated with the IS. Police have launched a massive manhunt to nab them, other officials said.
India and Nepal share a 1,751-km-long porous frontier which has reportedly been used by Pakistani elements and terrorists in the past. A number of such operatives have been nabbed by Indian border guarding agencies.
Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3-km-long open border with Nepal, touching seven districts – Pilibit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj.
PTI