The route of Pakistani terrorists Abdul Walid and Fahim to Gorakhpur, who were nabbed in Gorakhpur on 27 th March, 2014 was :

The correct answer is A. Gorakhpur sits on the India-Nepal border, and Sonauli is the main land crossing linking it to Nepal. Kathmandu is a common transit point for Pakistani nationals entering India through the open border, and the Karachi-Kathmandu-Gorakhpur chain matches the reporting on this arrest.

Why the others fail:

• B (via Lucknow): Lucknow is a city in the same state further from the border, and it is not a transit point on a route that brings someone from Karachi to the border belt.
• C (via New Delhi): Arriving in Delhi and then travelling about 300 km east is not the path reported in this case.
• D (via Mumbai and Lucknow): This is a long detour through the west coast and the interior, with no logical reason to pass Mumbai before reaching a northern border district.

Core concept: cross-border infiltration routes and the porous Nepal border. For Mains GS-III (internal security), this links to the India-Nepal open border under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the difficulty of monitoring movement across it.

Trap: candidates pick Delhi or Lucknow because they are bigger and more familiar. The question tests the actual route, and the Nepal link decides it.