India has stepped up security on its border with Nepal to prevent Maoist guerrillas fighting to topple the monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom from crossing into its territory, officials said on Tuesday.
Border guards and police hade been alerted in West Bengal and Sikkim and in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
"We are keeping a watch to prevent Maoists from entering," said a state police official in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, which has a 100 km border with Nepal. He said police were checking hospitals and private nursing homes in the district's main town, Siliguri, to find out if any injured Maoist cadres from Nepal had been admitted. Nepal's King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after a spate of attacks by Maoist rebels over the weekend. It was the worst violence since Maoists launched their fight for a communist republic in 1996. Authorities said more than 100 people were killed. Bureau Report