Siliguri, Sept 3: The threat perceptions were always there, but surprisingly, proposals sent by the police authorities to upgrade infrastructure at the sole Immigration Check Post (ICP) at Raniganj, located on the India-Nepal border, have always fallen on deaf ears.

Proposals were also sent to make another ICP at Sukhiapokhri functional. The ICP at Sukhiapokhri now exists only on paper.

The proposals assume significance against the backdrop of heightened security threats from Maoist guerrillas who had targeted Indian establishments across Nepal recently.

Inspector-general of police (north Bengal) Vageesh Mishra said: ?The primary task of the ICP is to verify credentials of foreigners (excluding Nepalis) who enter India through Panitanki on the India-Nepal border. However, recent augmentation of the police force (temporary deployment of the State Armed Police and Rapid Action Force) along sensitive stretches of the India-Nepal border in Darjeeling will help cope with other inadequacies.?

?We also have the Sashastra Suraksha Bal (SSB) guarding almost the entire porous stretch of the Indo-Nepal border,? he added.

It was learnt that a special team from the external affairs ministry had visited the ICP last year to carry out a feasibility survey aimed at upgrading the unit?s infrastructure .

?Nothing much happened after the visit,? said a senior Darjeeling police officer.

Senior police officers were at a loss to explain why no action has been taken to upgrade the ?strategic? ICP on the Indo-Nepal border.

Sources said apart from checking the travel documents of foreign citizens (barring Nepalis) entering India, the ICPs are also supposed to conduct preliminary security checks.

Sources said the ICP is understaffed ? it has only 13 office-bearers at present ? and lacks the infrastructure to accommodate more people.

?Ideally, an ICP should at least have door frame and hand held metal detectors, but the one here does not have even simple gadgets to carry out frisking,? an intelligence official said.