Kathmandu, July 30 -- The Armed Police Force (APF), the country's border security and riot control force, submitted a confidential report to the government three years ago warning that organised attempts were being made to foment religious and ethnic divisions across the Tarai. The report recommended urgent political and administrative intervention, but officials say its findings received little attention from the country's leadership.

The report, presented to then prime minister KP Sharma Oli and home minister Ramesh Lekhak, urged the government to closely regulate organisations operating on religious and ethnic lines, alleging that some Muslim and Hindu groups based in the Tarai were receiving support from national and international no...