47 foreigners from 12 countries arrested in Bihar in 2023 so far
India has an open border with Nepal and it is not mandatory for citizens of either country to have passports or visa to cross borders.
A total of 47 foreign nationals from 12 countries have been arrested in Bihar in 2023 so far, most of them while trying to enter India illegally, a senior police officer said.
Additional director general of police (headquarters) Jitendra Singh Gangwar said on Friday that out of the 47 foreign nationals arrested, 32 were apprehended on the porous Indo-Nepal border in the state while trying to enter India illegally.
Of the rest 15, six have been arrested for gold smuggling, six for violating the liquor prohibition law in force in Bihar since 2016, and one each for carrying narcotics, foreign currency and illegal firearms.
In the latest case, two foreign nationals, one each from Sudan and Uzbekistan, who were trying to enter India illegally through the Indo-Nepal border in Sitamarhi and Madhubani districts, respectively, were arrested on Thursday.
The police have registered separate cases with the Sonbarsa police station in Sitamarhi and Harlakhi police station in Madhubani.
Both were produced before courts on Friday and sent to judicial custody.
Talking with reporters, Gangwar said the Sudanese national arrested at Sonbarsa has been identified as Nasir Buray Musa Abbas. “Police recovered from him a passport and lapsed travel document (issued by the USA), besides a mobile phone. During investigation, police found he travelled to the UAE in February 2023 and Kenya in March. Later, he arrived in Nepal on a tourist visa, which lapsed on July 7, 2023,” the ADG said.
In Madhubani district, the Sashshtra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the Indo-Nepal border, detained a woman named Mukhabbat Murodova, a woman from Uzbekistan, at Pipron-Jethi check post while she was on way to Nepal from India without visa. “The woman has two passports on a single name and an Indian ID card that mentioned her name as Sultana Sheikh, a resident of Mahipalpur in Delhi. Police investigation is under way,” Gangwar said.
According to the ADG, foreign nationals arrested so far this year include citizens of Nepal, Sudan, Myanmar, Russia, Czech Republic, Tibet (China), East Africa (Uganda), Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, the United States and China.
India has an open border with Nepal and it is not mandatory for citizens of either country to have passports or visa to cross borders.
