Saturday, 07 SEPTEMBER 2024 | my uttarakhand news | DEHRADUN Former chief minister Harish Rawat has said that considering the sensitivity of Indo- Nepal relationships, the arrest of the brother of the BJP MLA from Ranikhet for smuggling live cartridges in Banbasa is a very serious issue and is related with the internal security of the country. Satish Nainwal, the brother of Ranikhet MLA Pramod Nainwal was booked by the Champawat police under arms act on Saturday. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) had apprehended Nainwal and his driver at Indo- Nepal border at Banbasa while they were trying to enter Nepal on Friday. The SSB handed over Nainwal and his driver to local police. Rawat said that the case also points out to continuous degradation the politics and power in the State has undergone. Interacting with the media persons at his residence on Saturday Rawat said that it is learnt that efforts are being made from Dehradun to New Delhi to hush up the Banbasa case. He said that the relationship between Nepal and India is very sensitive and viewed in this perspective the matter should be taken very seriously. The former CM claimed that he is privy to the information that the Nepalese authorities had shared with administration of border districts that people close to power are engaged in cross border smuggling. Rawat added that the area where the ammunition was recovered is near the Maoist affected area. The former CM said that the people having direct association with BJP are being involved in the criminal activities in Uttarakhand. He said that the Congress party is keeping a close eye on the Banbasa case and added that if required the party will approach the governor of the State for justice. “The BJP has denigrated every constitutional body including that of the governor. However, considering the fact that the Governor of Uttarakhand is an armed forces veteran, we are sure that he would understand the sensitivity of the case and take measures to ensure that the issue is not hushed up ,’’ he quipped. Continuing his diatribe on the ruling BJP Rawat said that the cases of rape, murder and sexual harassment are continuing to increase in the State and in most of the cases there is a clear involvement of people having links with the ruling party. He said that if the Police had succeeded in apprehending the VIP involved in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, the criminals would have dared to commit the cases of crime against women in Uttarakhand.