NEW DELHI -- India has sought from Nepal the post-mortem and forensic reports of a Nepalese national allegedly killed in firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the border on Thursday, an incident that triggered protests in Nepal.
Officials of the two border districts, Kanchanpur of Nepal and Lakhimpur Kheri in India, met after the incident and agreed to maintain peace and order, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.
"Following reports of the death of a Nepali national yesterday at the India-Nepal border, allegedly in a firing incident, the SSB has initiated an enquiry in this matter. The Government of Nepal is being requested through diplomatic channels to share post-mortem and forensic reports to facilitate the process," Baglay said.
According to reports, a Nepalese man was killed on Thursday when the Indian border guards allegedly opened fire following a dispute over construction of a culvert on Sano Khola river along the frontier in Uttar Pradesh. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu has denied any firing by SSB personnel deployed on the Indian side of the border.
Baglay also said that officials of the two border districts have met in the backdrop of the prevailing situation and agreed to maintain peace and order.
Nepal has raised with India the issue of the killing of a Nepalese man in alleged firing by India's border-guarding force and demanded a probe into the incident, the Foreign Ministry here said.
Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement on Thursady night, "condemned" the killing of Nepali national Govinda Gautam due to "firing opened by the Indian security forces" at the Nepal-India border near Anandabazar in Kanchanpur district.
"The Government of Nepal has already taken up this matter with serious concern at higher diplomatic level of the Government of India with a demand to investigate the incident and bring the guilty to justice," the statement said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi has also telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and raised the matter, media reports here said.
Nepal's government has also called for taking necessary steps to bring the situation under control so that no further untoward incident takes place in the said border area, the Foreign Ministry here said.
India has "categorically denied" that its border-guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) killed the Nepali man at the Nepal-India border and said there is a need to maintain calm.
Gautam, of Kanchanpur district, was killed in alleged firing from the Indian side at Nepal-India border following a dispute over building a culvert over the Sano Khola river in Kanchanpur district, Kantipur Television reported.
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