20 foreign nationals with Tablighi links held in Bihar

Debashish Karmakar | TNN | Updated: Apr 16, 2020, 06:25 IST

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PATNA: Altogether 20 foreign nationals with links to the Tablighi Jamaat were arrested in Samastipur and Kishanganj districts on Tuesday for alleged violation of visa rules. Among those arrested are nine Bangladeshis, 10 Indonesians and one Malaysian.
So far, 66 foreigners have been arrested under The Foreigners Act, 1946, who had entered India on tourist visa but were carrying out religious activities in contravention of rules.
Earlier this week, 16 people Kyrgyzstan and one from Kazakhstan were arrested from Patna, seven Indonesians and four Malaysians from Buxar, and nine citizens each from Bangladesh and Malaysia were arrested from Araria on Monday and Tuesday.
In Samastipur, nine Bangladeshi nationals were being hosted by one Dr Ishteyaque Ahmed at his residence in village Dharampur under Town police station area in the district.
Town SHO Sitaram Prasad said Ahmed was also arrested along with the nine foreign nationals on charges of “harbouring them”.
“All these foreign nationals were traced on April 1 after which they were quarantined for 14 days. They have tested negative for Covid-19. All were arrested on Tuesday and were forwarded to jail on the same day,” Prasad said.
The SHO informed that the foreigners had reached Samastipur around Holi last month. “They were found involved in flouting visa rules. The Bangladeshis were involved in religious work in the country while they had been issued tourist visas,” he added.
In Kishanganj, 10 Indonesian and one Malaysian nationals were arrested and sent to jail on Tuesday. Kishanganj Town SHO HK Yadav said all these foreign nationals had come to attend Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi.
“They all were kept quarantined for 14 days and tested negative after which they were arrested. They were staying in a mosque in town area prior to arrest,” he said, adding, action was taken on the direction of senior authorities of the district administration.