Chinese national’s arrest in Malda: Agencies probe larger conspiracy

More than a week after a Chinese national was caught by the Border Security Force (BSF) near an outpost close to the Bangladesh border in Malda, investigating agencies are now looking into a larger conspiracy surrounding him and involving more Chinese and Indian nationals.

The 36-year-old Chinese national, who has been identified by his passport as Hun Junwei, was found carrying an Indian Aadhaar card, a bank ATM.

In a video released by BSF, Hun Junwei claimed that he was involved in export business, e-commerce and hotel, and that he had visited India “several times for business and market research”.

He and his associates also allegedly smuggled over 1,300 Indian SIM cards to China.

“I reached Bangladesh border on June 2, and I came to Bangladesh border. I crossed a river and by mistake, entered India and was arrested… I just crossed Bangladesh as I wanted to surrender to ATS Lucknow,” Junwei is heard speaking in the video released by the BSF.

He was arrested on June 10.

According to sources, when he was being chased by BSF officials, Junwei threw away some documents. “The documents were collected three days after his arrest. These documents were the ones on which he claimed to be an Indian citizen,” an official said.

“Three days after he was arrested, we found a Telangana ID card, Aadhaar card and bank account details, an ATM card of a nationalised branch of Telangana. On all these documents Junwei claimed to be an Indian citizen. During initial interrogation, he had said that he was in India for ‘business’. We suspected him to be involved in cyber fraud cases. But now it seems to be more involved in security issue than cyber fraud,” SS Guleria, DIG BSF (South Bengal Frontier) said.

A laptop and two iPhones were also in his possession.

The Special Task Force of West Bengal Police is currently interrogating him. The officials are examining the equipment seized from his possession.

“There are also high chances that he was sharing a private database of Indian citizens for cyber fraud in a larger way against government websites, big private companies etc,” said Malda police.

According to the Chinese passport he was carrying, Junwei is a resident of Hubei in central China whose provincial capital is Wuhan. According to investigating officials, Junwei reached Dhaka on June 2 on a business visa and stayed there with a Chinese friend. On June 8, he came to Sona Masjid in Chapainawabganj district of Bangladesh. On June 10, he was trying to enter Indian territory, when he was caught.

Apart from NIA, Junwei has also been questioned by Lucknow Anti-Terror Squad (ATS). “He is the mastermind in a financial fraud case linked to e-currency, e-wallets etc… However, this is not the focus of the specific case… Once he is brought to Lucknow, he will be questioned on a different case,” G K Goswami, IG (Lucknow ATS) told the Indian Express.