Hyderabad:
In a span of five days, four foreign nationals including three from Nigeria were arrested by the police in Hyderabad for failing to carry passports or visas. Prima facie, the investigators found that the apprehended foreign nationals could be potential drug peddlers, who generally opt for a similar modus operandi of safeguarding their passports and travel to various metropolitan cities to peddle drugs.
On September 17, at about 7 pm, the patrolling personnel of Narsingi police station of Cyberabad police commissionerate apprehended one Mark, 28, at Gandipet. When asked by the policemen, he failed to produce his passport or visa and did not show any other identification cards pertaining to his stay in India.
He was taken to the police station for questioning where Mark did not answer any other questions except that he had misplaced his passport and visa in Mumbai, and came to the city around five days ago to meet his friend. Mark was from the Biafra Republic. Narsingi sub-inspector K. Deva Raju said “Mark failed to show any of the documents. His only answer was that he came to the city to meet his countryman living in Narsingi, but he did not share details of his friend. He was living in Mumbai until five days before he was caught and took a train to reach the city.”
Mark was booked under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act and remanded to judicial custody.
The SI is also investigating another similar case registered on September 13, where one Okoye Mike, 38, of Nigeria was caught at Puppalaguda. He said that in both the cases, the foreigners said they did not do any work, but were managing all their expenses.
“Mike also gave similar answers. He also said he had lost his passport and documents related to his stay in the country and came from Mumbai to meet a friend here. It raised suspicions. Some foreign nationals that were caught earlier in Hyderabad for peddling drugs also did not have passports in their possession.”
