On Saturday (22 July), the Security personnel in Bihar arrested two Chinese nationals who tried to enter India illegally through the Indo-Nepal border from Raxaul in Bihar’s East Champaran district, the officials said on Sunday, 23 July. The arrested Chinese nationals have been identified as Zhao Jing (39 years old) and FU Cong (28 years). Both of them are said to be residents of Jiangxi, a province in the Eastern part of China.
East Champaran Superintendent of Police (SP) Kantesh Kumar Mishra informed that both Chinese nationals were arrested near the Indian customs office at Raxaul town at 8.45 pm on Saturday. They were trying to cross the border without any valid documents.
The police are interrogating them to understand their motive, however, officials are suspecting that espionage may be a possible reason for their misadventure. The SP said, “Motive behind their move could not be established. Interrogation is being done.”
Motihari SP Kantesh Kumar Mishra said that a case against the duo has been registered at Haria police station and are being sent to jail. Police will interrogate them further after taking them on remand, he added.
The immigration officials stationed at the border did not dismiss the possibility of ‘espionage’ as the motive behind their illegal entry into Indian territory from across the border. “In the course of the interrogation, they demonstrated strange behaviour. While one of them is fluent in English, the statement given by them are inconsistent and self-contradictory”, an immigration official said as reported by the Hindustan Times.
The officials stated that the duo made a failed attempt to cross the border in the past as well. Apparently, they were caught by the Raxaul Immigration Department on the 2nd of July, this year, while they were attempting to enter India from the Nepal border without an Indian visa. Back then, they were sent back to Nepal with their passports stamped with a warning indicating entry refusal. They were advised to secure an Indian visa before making any further attempts to enter India.
The immigration official said, “They were previously apprehended on July 2 this year. At that time, they were let off with a warning and were advised to enter into the Indian territory with visas.”
Earlier, on Wednesday, 19 July, another Chinese national was arrested by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel while he was trying to sneak into India through the Indo-Nepal border in the Kharibari area of Siliguri in West Bengal.
The accused was identified as Yongxin Peng (39 years old). A Police officer stated that during interrogation, they recovered a Chinese passport and several other documents from him. The officer added that this sparked a possibility that he was involved in espionage. He was reportedly unable to speak English.
Earlier, in February, the SSB arrested one more Chinese national who was attempting to cross India from Nepal without valid documents. This arrest occurred in Lakhimpur district, Uttar Pradesh. Following these arrests, the security forces have intensified their surveillance and increased patrolling in the surrounding areas.
