Aizawl, Mar 27 (PTI) Two persons from Russia and the Slovak Republic were detained at separate places in Mizoram for entering the state without the mandatory Protected Area Permit (PAP), a senior police officer said on Friday.
The Slovak man was deported to his country on Friday, and a similar action will be taken against the Russian, once a flight is available, Mizoram Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) H Ramthlengliana told PTI.
The 58-year-old Slovak national was detained by the Assam Rifles in south Mizoram’s Siaha district on March 24 from a place near the Indo-Myanmar border. The Russian was intercepted by the BSF in Mamit district near the Tripura border the following day when he was trying to enter Mizoram.
Ramthlengliana said that though the two men possessed valid visas and passports, they did not have PAP, a mandatory travel permit for foreign nationals to enter Mizoram, he said.
After their detention, both the foreign nationals were handed over to the state police by the security forces, he said.
Ramthlengliana said that the Slovak man was deported to his country on Friday.
According to officials, the Slovak man travelled from Thailand to Kolkata and then to Mizoram and was planning to participate in a water festival in Myanmar’s Chin state having been invited by his friends.
The 41-year-old Russian national, who was a cyclist, entered Mizoram by bicycle from Agartala and was brought to Aizawl on Friday.
He will also be deported soon once his flight ticket is confirmed, the IGP said.
Another officer said that the Russian confessed to the police that he was unaware that a PAP was required to enter Mizoram.
He was intercepted and detained on the Phuldungsei road in Mamit district, which also shares a border with Bangladesh, by the BSF.
The PAP is required for foreigners — except citizens of Bhutan — to visit sensitive border areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. These permits are mandatory for accessing restricted areas, particularly near the Myanmar and China borders. PTI CORR NN
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