
By Our Reporter
Human traffickers are found sending not only Nepali nationals but also Indian nationals, some of them with criminal backgrounds, overseas via Tribhuvan International Airport in collision with the corrupt employees stationed there.
Investigations by CIAA have revealed this bizarre incident, according to a news report published in the Naya Patraika recently.
What the daily has revealed showed that the TIA has been emerging as a safe haven for human traffickers and criminals thanks to the corrupt civil servants and police officers who manage to reach the TIA by paying a large amount of money to political leadership.
Moreover, Gorkhapatra, the mouthpiece of the government, reported that over 75,000 Indian nationals used the TIA to fly the third countries in the last eight years. Gorkhapatra also reported the number of Indian nationals allowed to fly overseas in detail by Home Ministers over the years. According to it, in average 58 Indians used the TIA to fly overseas during the short term of Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane while the number was 38 during the term of Narayankaji Shrestha and 47 during Bal Krishna Khand's term of 17 months.
It is now suspected that even notorious criminals from India and other countries might have used the TIA as a safe haven to fly to other countries.
According to Naya Patrika around 1,000 suspicious Indian nationals, including several of those included in the "most wanted" list, have traveled to third countries via Nepal in the last six months. Investigations have confirmed that these individuals were allowed to fly without obtaining a mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Indian Embassy.
Following the revelation that even fugitive and suspicious Indian nationals were being allowed to travel from Nepal to third countries through internal arrangements, Indian authorities have begun taking a serious interest in the matter. The NOC issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu is a compulsory requirement for Indian citizens traveling from Nepal to a third country. However, under the leadership of then-Immigration Chief and Joint Secretary Tirtha Bhattarai and others, many Indian nationals were allowed to travel without this document, reported the Daily.
"According to sources from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), it has been confirmed that approximately 1,000 Indian nationals, some of whom were fugitives, were allowed to travel through Nepal without an NOC in the past six months. The Commission is now conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. It had earlier been confirmed that two Indian nationals blacklisted for gold smuggling were granted permission to leave the country," wrote the daily.
The revelation is a matter of serious concerns. This has not only tarnished the image of Nepal but also provided fuel to India which has been demanding that Nepal should allow India to manage the security of TIA. Even after the recent Pahalgam attack, the issue of entering the terrorists into India via Nepal was raised. As such, the government needs to be serious in controlling illegal activities being taken place in the TIA in the name of a visit visa.
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