In what is being viewed as a direct fallout of the recent controversy over the arrest of alleged Hizbul Mujahideen militant Liaquat Ali Shah the Union home ministry is all set to deploy the Jammu and Kashmir police along with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the Indo-Nepal border in order to facilitate movement of those militants who want to return to India from the Nepal route for surrender.
The SSB is the border guarding force for the Indo-Nepal border.
Incidentally, Shah was picked up by the intelligence agencies from Gorakhpur immediately after he entered from Nepal with his family which claim that Shah was returning as part of Jammu and Kashmir Government’s surrender policy.
Sources said Union home secretary R.K. Singh, who chaired a high-level meeting on the contentious issue on Tuesday, was of the view that presence of Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel at the Indo-Nepal border will help identify those militants willing to return back home for surrender using the Nepal route.
This, MHA officials claim, will eventually help avoid any future embarrassment to country’s elite security and intelligence agencies.
The J&K police officials, who are expected to be deployed along the 15 Border Outposts (BOPs), along the Indo-Nepal border will then accompany the surrendered militants back to the state.
Home ministry sources said apart from deployment of J&K personnel some more Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are being put in place to make the surrender and cross over mechanism at the border more foolproof.
“In the long run we may even identify specific or designated points along the border from where the surrendered militants can cross over. It will be mandatory for the J&K Police personnel to be present these points specially when a surrendered militants is returning,” a senior ministry official said.
Another option being explored by the ministry is to make the Nepal route an official route for entry of surrendered militants but this will involve heavy consultations with the neighbouring country before a final decision is taken.
The security establishment had so far kept the Nepal route as an ‘’unofficial’’ entry point for Pakistan and PoK based surrendered militants to enter the country to lead a normal life.