Author says Britain had covert operation in Nepal

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"Although people knew this in 2007, there was no follow-up then. It was almost hushed up, you could say," he says.

Bell says he came to know about the MI6's operation in Nepal through "speaking to a large number of sources, mostly Nepali security officials who were involved or had knowledge of the operation. They said that the British operation was very effective in strengthening Nepali counterterrorism or intelligence efforts in Kathmandu."

He further claims that the British operation led to numerous arrests by the army, and some of those arrested were tortured or died while in custody.

Bell, however, says he doesn't know why the British government did it.

"Well, the British policy doesn't seem to make much sense, because at the same time they were secretly supporting these abuses, they were publicly advocating human rights," he adds.

The unraveling of the case about British government's intervention in such a sensitive case during the decade-long civil war, however, has aroused speculations among the observers, critics and stakeholders in Nepal.

The internal war fought from 1996 to 2006 between the Nepali government and the Maoists, who have now joined Nepal's mainstream politics, left as many as 15,000 Nepalis dead and an estimated 150,000 people displaced.