Nepal Police kill Indian national along Indo-Nepal border

An Indian national has been killed by Nepal Police in an exchange of fire with a group of four Indians, allegedly involved in smuggling drugs and counterfeit currency along the Indo-Nepal border, an official statement said here on Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Govinda Singh, 20, a resident of Pilibhit district in Uttar Pradesh, the Nepal Police said in a statement.

A five-member police team was deployed at the Nepal-India border area after receiving a specific tipoff that a fake currency printing machine and drugs were being smuggled into Nepal.

"The smugglers fired at the patrol team immediately upon seeing them, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Amar Bahadur Thapa said.

As soon as the police started inspecting their bags, the gang suddenly opened fire at them in Belauri Municipality-8 in Kanchanpur district of Western Nepal on Thursday night.

Singh received bullet injury after Nepal Police Constable Bir Bahadur Saud opened counter fire with his pistol, the statement said.

Singh, who sustained severe injuries on the chest, died while undergoing treatment at Ishan Memorial Hospital, Belauri.

"His body will be handed over to his relatives after postmortem, DSP Thapa said.

Meanwhile, a senior police official in Pilibhit said the Indian national along with two others had gone to attend a fair in Nepal's Kanchanpur.

Govinda Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Pappu Singh, all residents of Bhumidan Raghavpuri Tilla Chaar village in Pilibhit district, had gone to the fair at the Belauri market in Kanchanpur on Thursday evening, according to Pilibhit Superintendent of Police, Jai Prakash Yadav. Yadav said the Nepal Police fired at them following an argument.

The group of Indian nationals had been involved in the smuggling of drugs and counterfeit currency notes. The other three Indian nationals, who accompanied Singh, are absconding, Nepal Police said, adding that further investigation is going on into the incident.

After the shootout, police confiscated two counterfeit currency printing machines, the paper used for printing notes, 65 grams of brown sugar, 25 grams of other contraband drugs from the incident site.