Long serpentine queues of buses and trucks from the check post at the Nagdhunga entry point to Kathmandu Valley have inconvenienced thousands of commuters since Saturday.

Travellers of Madhesi origin have complained of being “unduly profiled” by security personnel in light of the picketing of Singha Durbar by Sanghiya Gathabandhan, an alliance of Madhesi and Janajati parties. The security checks have also greatly slowed down traffic movement.

Protesters have resented the heavy deployment of police personnel and sniffer dogs at Nagdhunga. Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Leader Jitendra Sonal, who travelled on a bus from Birgunj on Sunday, said it took up to 40 minutes to inspect a single bus.

“It reminded me of the insurgency period”, he said, referring to the security checks on passengers during the decade-long Maoist

“people’s war”.

Sonal said the vigilance had held protesters from arriving for the programme on time.

Ram Kishor Yadav, a central committee member of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal, said they were asked to take out their belongings for the police to see.

“After six hours in queue, we were put through a check. When we asked them what it was all about, they shouted at us,” said Yadav.

“We felt bad. We are not terrorists; we are here to demand our rights,” he added.

For the past three days, the Madhesi-Janajati alliance has been staging protests outside Singha Durbar, the government’s secretariat.

Police maintain that the measures were taken for the security of protesters.

“We don’t want explosives and weapons to enter Kathmandu. Even sticks are barred,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Dilli Raj Pant, chief of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Thankot.

“It’s our duty. Obviously, it takes time to check vehicles thoroughly.” DSP Pant, however, denied any bias or harassment in the process.

British caught during protest

Police on Monday caught a British national for “participating” in a protest programme carried out by the Madhesi and Janajati alliance.

Martin Travers, 41, a British passport holder, was arrested on Monday afternoon during a protest outside Singha Durbar, while he was taking pictures.

Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Ram Krishna Subedi confirmed the arrest of the British national who showed up among the protesters carrying flags and wearing red bands on the forehead on Sunday.

The arrest comes a day after reports and pictures of foreigners taking part in the anti-government rally appeared in the media. Martin is a mural painter who also paints people’s faces. SP Pradhyumna Karki, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Range, Teku, said Martin is in the Range’s custody for investigation.

“I was taking pictures,” Martin told the Post. “They must have mistaken me for a protester due to a bandana on my head tied by some protesters.” Martin exhibited his works on people after the earthquake at Siddhartha Art Gallery in August 2015. He was also an artist with Book Bus, a USAID mobile library in Nepal.

He sold his paintings to support art workshops at several schools in Nepal. Martin had come back to Nepal on the anniversary of the earthquake to continue his relief programme.

Recently, the Immigration Department deported Robert Penner, a Canadian, for his Twitter posts supporting Nepal’s ethnic movement.