MHA's stern warning to cops after ‘Nepal stir’: ‘Could lead to avoidable embarrassment’

The Indian government has not issued an official statement on the incident.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a strongly worded advisory wherein it has directed chief secretaries and police chiefs of all states and Union Territories to ensure that proper authorisation is obtained before traveling to any foreign country for investigative purposes.

The advisory comes after a recent unauthorised operation was conducted by a group of Indian police officers in Nepal which led to a diplomatic controversy.

The operation was carried out in the last week of February when around six officers from the Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) allegedly attempted to apprehend a wanted criminal near a restaurant in the Nagarjun area on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Upon learning of the unauthorised activity, the Nepal Police intervened and stopped the Punjab officers from proceeding with their operation. According to individuals in Delhi with knowledge of the situation, the matter was resolved through high-level communication between senior officials in India and their counterparts in Kathmandu, after which the Indian team was allowed to return, Hindustan Times reported.

“The unapproved visit by the police team caused significant embarrassment to the Indian side,” HT quoted an official as saying.

Both India and Nepal are reportedly working to keep the matter under wraps, as the two nations often cooperate on criminal investigations, officials said.

However, Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs denied awareness of the event, the report said. “We don’t have information about such an incident,” said Ramchandra Tiwari, joint secretary and spokesperson of the ministry.

Meanwhile, Pramod Ban, head of Punjab’s AGTF, said, “Our team had gone to gather information, not to carry out any operation.” Asked about reports of his team being detained by Nepal Police, he responded, “Nothing of that sort happened.”

The Indian government has not issued an official statement on the incident.

In response to the diplomatic misstep, the MHA sent a letter dated March 19 to all state and UT chief secretaries, DGPs, and the Delhi Police Commissioner. Without naming the country, the MHA said in its communique, “It has been observed in a recent case that a state police team had visited a foreign country for investigations in a criminal matter without prior authorisation from the competent authority in that country, leading to an adverse situation”.

The ministry asserted that the “visit by state police personnel to any foreign country for investigations in criminal matters, without prior approval of the competent authorities in the foreign country and knowledge of the MEA (ministry of external affairs) or Indian mission concerned, could lead to avoidable embarrassment.”

“It is therefore requested that police personnel be suitably sensitised to obtain necessary approvals before undertaking any visit abroad for investigative purposes,” the letter stated. It further urged that the concerned Indian mission or the MEA be kept in the loop for such visits.