Hindustan Times
Saturday, February 23, 2013
by Sagar Suraj
Two foreign nationals were arrested in East Champaran district of north Bihar on Saturday, when they were allegedly trying to sneak into Nepal from the Indian side of the international border.
Local police officials said they had grounds to suspect the two men might be linked to the Hyderabad serial bomb blasts.
However, additional director-general (ADG) of police (headquarters) Ravindra Kumar said in Patna that the two men were visiting Nepal and one of them, a Somalia national, had been held as he had 'strayed' into Indian territory without a valid visa.
The other man, the ADG said, was from Hyderabad but there was nothing to suggest any of the two had a role in the Hyderabad blasts.
On the other hand, Raxaul deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jitendra Panday told HT although there wasn't anything definitive, there were enough reasons to suspect the two men, Mohammad Abdul and Abdullah Umar Makrani, who had been arrested near the Indian immigration office at Raxaul, close to the Indo-Nepal border.
Another police source said some visuals in the laptops recovered from their possession appeared to “indicate their link” to the Hyderabad bomb blasts.
“They even threatened a lensman who was taking their photo”, he said.
The DSP said during their interrogation, the two confessed they are coming from Hyderabad and had visited many cities of India, using the documents they were carrying.
“They are definitely suspects. But it is yet to be established definitively whether they are linked to the Hyderabad blasts”, he said, adding the two were not carrying valid visas.
Panday said both Abdul and Makrani appeared to be of African origin.
“Makrani is from Somalia. Among the papers being carried by Abdul is an Indian identity card, which may be fake”, he added.
The DSP said the police stepped in following a tip off from officials of the India immigration office, who found the documents furnished by the two to be suspect.
“We have registered a case against the two at the Raxaul police station”, he added.
An official of the Indian immigration office said that the documents being carried by the two suspects did not allow them to move across Indian cities.