Indians recount horror, Nepalis plead for entry at Panitanki post
Times of India | 11 September 2025
Siliguri: The Panitanki India-Nepal border post on Wednesday presented contrasting images, with Indians relieved to return home while Nepali citizens waited at the Mechi River bridge, anxious to enter India.
Security along the border at Panitanki was heightened on Wednesday, with senior Bengal police and SSB officers monitoring the zone. According to Bengal police, around 31 Indian families were stuck on the other side of the border outpost in Kakarbhitta, with only a few able to return on Wednesday.
Nepali residents were unable to enter India through this border outpost, as immigration services were suspended. A long queue of over 200 trucks, several carrying rice and food items, also remained stuck, unable to enter Nepal.
Indians returning from Nepal brought back chilling accounts of the violence they witnessed. Many said they narrowly escaped with their lives, still shaken by the bloodshed unfolding before their eyes. Among those who returned was Bipin Kumar Choudhary, a resident of Samastipur, who entered Biratnagar in Nepal, 8km from the at Jogbani of Araria district of Bihar on Sept 8, and recounted the chaos in Kathmandu. "The situation was tense; there was stampede-like panic right before our eyes.
I managed to get a cab and rush to Birtamode," said Choudhary.
Seema Devi, another returnee from Biratnagar who went for an eye check-up, had to come back the very day she arrived as protests escalated. "My doctor called me for a follow-up after seven days, but the day I reached, violence erupted. Without even visiting the doctor, I had to flee. The horrific scenes still haunt me whenever I close my eyes," Devi recalled.
At the same time, Nepali citizens attempting to enter India are facing their own ordeals. Despite valid documents, many wait for hours at border points, hoping to cross over — some to seek medical treatment, others to reunite with families — only to be held back by restrictions. Saru Rai, a resident of Kakarbhitta, pleaded for entry into India to meet her ailing eight-year-old daughter admitted at a private hospital in Siliguri.
"Despite having Nepali citizenship and valid documents, we are denied entry even for medical treatment. My daughter has been diagnosed with appendicitis, and we need to reach the hospital. We have been waiting here for over three hours. Families like ours live on the border and depend on the Indian side for essential needs, yet we are stuck here helpless," Rai said.
Security has been beefed up with high vigilance at the Kakarvitta-Panitanki border crossing, about 34 km from Siliguri, and Pashupatinagar, around 29 km from Darjeeling. Following the situation, Bengal police ADG Ajay Nand inspected the Kakarbitta-Panitanki border on Wednesday. The ADG maintained that the border was under control and peaceful on the Indian side, and the forces were keeping a strong vigil on the security aspects.
"More than 31 Indian families are stranded there, possibly more. We are in constant touch with them and with the SSB and police, but the worsening conditions have prevented any concrete solutions," Nand said.